College Is A Lot Harder Than It Seems
by NALEY23alwaysforever
Summary: Best friends Haley and Jake are at Duke University together. There they Haley's first best friend from Tree Hill, Lucas Scott along with his friends Brooke and Peyton. And what happens when Haley meets Lucas' Brother Nathan? School, Friendship, Love and Life...They're about to learn that college is a lot harder than it seems. (Rated T for some language) - Naley, Brucas, Jeyton.
1. Moving Onto Campus

**A/N: HEY! This is my new One Tree Hill - Naley story. This was a request from Thibbs65 who asked me to write a Naley meeting in college story. It will have a little more drama and angst than my stories normally do but it won't be too heavy overall – I'm a major Naley fluff fan :D**

 **I hope you guys like this story, please leave me a review on what you think**

 **Enjoy!**

1\. Moving Onto Campus

*March 21st, 2010*

Haley sighed as she walked up the three flights of stairs for the tenth time that day. She shifted the box into one arm as she reached her dorm room, and opened the door to let herself in. She dropped the box down at the door so that it wouldn't shut, waiting for her best friend.

"OK!" Jake yells, dropping the boxes down on the floor before dramatically dropping down onto Haley's bed "We're finally done"

Haley laughs as she sits down on the edge of the bed leaning her head against the wall as Jake splays his body out on her bed "Thanks for helping me buddy, I know you weren't exactly looking forward to it"  
"You know I'd do anything for you Bob" Jake laughed as Haley groaned  
"My parents are terrible, who names their child after a cat!?" she whines "You can't call me that in public, I'm trying to get a teaching degree. No one's going to want to be taught by someone whose nickname is Bob"

Jake chuckled "So, when do your roommates get here?" he asked

Haley shrugged "They're coming tomorrow according to the room placement manager"  
"Cool. Well one of the guys I know from High Flyers is throwing a party tonight if you wanna come?"  
Haley made a face as she replied "Nah, I'd rather just stay here and unpack"  
"Ok let's be clear" Jake said sitting up "When I said do you want to come, it wasn't really a question. You're coming Hales, you've been a hermit for the better part of two months. You promised you'd live your life" he replied softly

Haley groaned "I hate when you're right. Fine I'll go"  
Jake smiled, jumping up off the bed and walking to the door "Ok, I'll come get you at 7. Wear something nice" he yelled as he walked out the door.  
Haley flopped back down on her bed. _This will be interesting_ she thought to herself.

…

Haley ran her hands down her jean-clad thighs once more as Jake walked beside her up to the front door. She was really nervous, and she couldn't figure out why. She just had this feeling that something was going to happen. Whether or not it was good or bad, hell if she knew.

"Seriously Hales, relax. You're making ME nervous!" Jake laughed as they entered the house.  
"I'm sorry" she acquiesced "I haven't exactly done this in a while if you remember"  
"Yeah I realise that Hales, but you have done this before. Just relax, I'll introduce you to my friend Eugene and it'll be sweet. You'll like him he's a literature nerd like you" Jake smirked

"Hey!" Haley said in pretend hurt "Just because I like books and classic literature doesn't make me a nerd"

"No, but the fact you've got a 4.0 GPA, were a straight A student and tutor centre volunteer…" Jake led off  
"You're mean Jake Jagielski" Haley pouted as Jake chuckled.  
"True, but I love you. Even if you are a nerd" he replied as he threw his arm around her shoulder "Come on, there he is"  
Haley looked around the room as Jake started to talk to his friend. There were people making out in each and every corner. There were girls having lemons sucked out of their belly buttons by random guys while they lay on the coffee table and, as tradition, there was a group of people playing beer pong at the dining table.

"Hales" Jake said as Haley snapped back to look at Jake and his friend, and her eyes almost bugged out of her head.  
"Well well, Haley James" the man said. Haley's smile widened even further as she wrapped her arms around the young man.

…

 **A/N: OK! So, I know that this first chapter's kinda short, But it's just to get started. Next chapter and all the ones after it will be much longer I promise! And we will pick up right where we left off!**

 **Please review and let me know what you'd like to see**

 **Maddie :)**


	2. The Eighteen Year Friendship

**A/N: Hey I'm back! Sorry it's taken so long I've been really busy with school and I just found out I have a wisdom tooth infection so I've got to have surgery to get my wisdom teeth removed which means it could be a while until I update again! I'll try and get as many chapters out as I can before i have my surgery.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **2\. The Eighteen Year Friendship**

*March 21st, 2010*

 _"Hales" Jake said as Haley snapped back to look at Jake and his friend, and her eyes almost bugged out of her head._  
 _"Well well, Haley James" the man said. Haley's smile widened even further as she wrapped her arms around the young man._

"Oh my god, Lucas!" Haley squealed as the man picked her up and spun her around "What are you doing here?" she asked as he set her down  
"I go to Duke, I can't believe I didn't tell you in my last letter. I didn't even think about it, I figured you'd be going to Stanford?" Lucas replied  
"Well, Stanford would've been amazing, but I couldn't afford it. Duke was my second choice and I was lucky enough to get a scholarship, I couldn't exactly turn down that opportunity" she smiled  
"I'm sorry Hales" Lucas said  
Haley scoffed and waved her hands "It's fine Luke, honestly. I'm happy here and it's only been a day, plus I've got Jake, and now you!" She smiled brightly.

Jake coughed loudly, breaking the two apart from their moment. Haley blushed slightly as Lucas chuckled  
"So, how exactly do you know Eugene over here?" Jake asked raising an eyebrow  
Lucas groaned at the mention of his middle/nick name "My mother is a terrible woman for naming me that" he said  
Haley laughed as she turned to look at Jake "remember I told you that I used to live in Tree Hill before I moved to Carolina?" she started as Jake nodded "Well, for the eight years that I grew up there, Lucas and I were best friends. Our parents went to Tree Hill High together and so naturally we grew up together and became best friends. And we've stayed friends for eighteen years" she explained.

"We've kept in touch for the past ten years, but now we're at the same school we can properly get to know each other again" Lucas smiled as he hugged her once more "I've missed you James" he said  
"You too. Eugene" She giggled as he let go of her, a scowl evident on his face causing Haley and Jake to laugh even louder  
"So where's Nathan?" Jake asked

"Wait a second" Haley interjected before Lucas could answer "Nathan Scott? As in your half brother?" she asked  
Lucas smiled "Yeah Hales. Nathan, my brother" he chuckled at Haley's shocked expression  
"Last you told me you two hated each other" she exclaimed in confusion  
"Nah, we're all good now. He's become one of my best friends Hales. And he's around here somewhere Jake, He and Rachel broke up last week so I think he's off drinking it up somewhere" Haley scanned the room, tuning out the last part of their conversation as she took in the party.

Jake chuckled as he shook his head "Well, I can't say I'm completely upset over their breakup, I hated that fake haired bitch" he said as he felt a hand on his should  
"Well, tell us how you really feel Jagielski" the raven haired boy chuckled as he wrapped his arm around the Jake's shoulder  
"Shit" jake muttered "sorry dude, I -" he was interrupted before he could finish  
"Dude, relax! you're right, she was a fake, and I don't just mean her hair. I'm so glad to be done with her" He exclaimed as he took a large sip of his beer.

His smile brightened as he looked at Haley, looking her up and down taking in her appearance. He took a step forward and extended his hand, breaking Haley away from her people-watching.  
"I don't believe we've met" He said as Haley took his hand, trying to keep the blush from creeping up her cheeks as he looked at her. She couldn't help but look at him in return. He had raven black hair, piercing blue eyes, dazzling smile. He was slightly taller than Jake and Lucas, and he had a muscular build that made his shirt stretch ever so slightly. Haley swallowed hard as she looked into his eyes, as Lucas spoke  
"This is my best friend from when we were little, Haley James" Lucas said as Haley let go of his hand "Hales, this is my brother, Nathan"

Haley's eyes widened as she looked between Nathan and Lucas "This is Nathan?" she said as she looked back at Lucas  
"You're his brother" she stated as she looked at Nathan, who chuckled at her expression "I know, it's hard to believe we're related when you look at how good looking I am compared to this lump" he chuckled shoving Lucas' shoulder jokingly.  
"You were right Lucas" Haley smiled as she looked at Nathan "He is pretty full of himself" she said as she crossed her arms over her body.  
Lucas looked at her slightly confused "When did I say that?"  
"In one of your letters. Although, I believe your exact words were 'The guys a dick, Hales. An absolute Jerk and he's so full of himself. He thinks he's a god or something, I can't believe we're related'" she finished her recollection

"Well, we've gotten to know each other over the past ten years since I've seen you Hales" Lucas said standing next to Jake  
"So now he's only just full of himself" she smiled sarcastically

Lucas and Jake burst out laughing as Nathan's smile faltered slightly. No woman had ever challenged him, even in the slightest. And if he was being honest, he liked that Haley James was. Nathan chuckled as he looked down at Haley  
"You're a feisty little thing aren't you" he smirked as he looked her up and down again, humming in appreciation  
"Hey" she snapped her fingers when his eyes lingered on her chest "My eyes are up here"s he said signalling to her face  
Nathan chuckled as he looked her in the eyes, and gave her a heart-stopping smile "Sorry, but you're beautiful" he said, catching her off guard  
"You can't blame me for staring"

Haley finally let the blush creep up her cheeks as she bit her lip. Jake and Lucas looked at each other, a knowing look on their faces.  
This just got a lot more interesting.

 **A/N: OK, so I wrote this really quickly in between exams so I hope it was okay. I'm desperately trying to write another chapter. Hopefully I'll have one up by Wednesday or Friday as those are the days I don't have exams. There will still be a bit of the party next chapter, then Haley's roommates will be turning up! as usual PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW and FAVOURITE and let me know what you think, and if there's anything you'd like to see happen for our favourite couple.**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	3. Old Friends, New friends, Roommates

**A/N: Hey! I'm so sorry it took so long, life got in the way! I will try to update more regularly but I've got to have surgery next week and I have work placement so the next two weeks may be a bit difficult. I hope you bear with me through this story I promise I won't give up on it!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **3\. Old Friends, New friends, Roommates.**

*March 21st, 2010*

"So how did you and Jake meet?" Nathan asked as he looked at his friend and brother, who were grinning like idiots.  
He raised an eyebrow at them to which they simply smiled wider. He shook his head at them as Haley spoke  
"Oh me and jagielski go way back. We've been friends since my first day of school when I was eight, Jake came up to me the first day of school and defended my honour when Bobby Parker told me I looked like a nincompoop" She smiled as Jake came over and wrapped his arms around her shoulder, rustling her hair a little bit as a sign of affection.

"Well I'm glad I did before you slugged the kid" Jake said with a laugh  
Haley shrugged at the shocked look on Nathan's face "He shouldn't have tried to take on a girl who had 4 protective brothers and 3 bitchy sisters growing up" she said in defence.  
Lucas chuckled as he looked at his friend "ah yes, the infamous James temper" he said as he put his hand on nathan's shoulder "Remember I told you about that girl who punched Damien West when we were six? meet your idol" lucas said as he pointed to Haley  
Nathan raised an eyebrow in surprise "Damn, remind me never to get on your bad side. You punched Damien West?"

Haley rolled her eyes "Ugh, that guy's the biggest pig. What kind of six year old pinches a girls butt!?" she exclaimed as Jake chuckled  
"I can't believe he moved to our school too" he said  
"The guy's a douche" Nathan said feeling his temper rise at the mention of the guy  
"You're telling me, he never gave up. Up until the day we graduated he never stopped trying to get in my pants. You'd think kicking him in the balls would've stopped him but no! he just became even more determined" she scoffed  
"He was such an ass in High Flyers, remember Luke?" Nathan said to his younger brother

Lucas groaned "That guy was the bane of our existence. Camp would've been absolute perfection had he not been there. Nathan beat him up so bad on the last day it was brilliant" Lucas laughed  
Haley's eyes widened in shock "You're the guy who gave him a broken nose and that massive black eye?" she asked him  
It was Nathan's turn to shrug "He wants to badmouth my girls, he's got another thing coming if he thought I was going to let that shit go" Nathan spoke, Haley caught the protective look in his eyes "He kept talking shit the entire camp, and I held it in because I knew I'd get kicked out if I did anything. And then on the last day we're all leaving and he had one more smart ass comment to throw, so I hit him. And then Lucas hit him. And then I kind of hit him a few more times" Nathan smirked at the end "I'd do it again any day"

"Wow" Haley said "So who were these girls? I mean I know from Lucas that you dated a lot, but more than one at a time, really?" she asked with shock, and slight disgust  
Lucas and Nathan both chuckled "Please" Nathan rolled his eyes "My girls, are my sister and Karen" Nathan said.  
"Ohh" Haley said in reply, feeling slightly foolish "sorry" she said sheepishly  
Nathan smiled "It's ok, I know people think I'm a massive playboy or something, but I wouldn't read too much into rumours. I might just surprise you"  
Haley smiled as she looked into Nathan's eyes "I have no doubt about that" she said.

Lucas and Jake both looked t each other, each silently communicating their plan.  
"Well" Lucas started "I need a drink, anyone else?"  
Jake nodded his head "Yeah, I think I'll join you. Laters Nerd" he said with a slight push of Haley's shoulder  
"Whatever Dork" she rolled her eyes at his retreating figure.

She looked back at Nathan and smiled, feeling her nerves creep in  
Nathan smiled down at her. She was nervous, and he couldn't help but think that it was utterly adorable  
"Do you wanna go for a walk with me? I need some fresh air" he said  
Haley smiled and nodded her head, taking his outstretched hand as he lead her out the backdoor and down the beach.

* * *

"So, tell me about yourself" Haley started. They had been walking for a few minutes in silence before she spoke.  
Nathan shrugged "There's not really much to tell" he said sitting down on the sand.  
"You mentioned your sister earlier" Haley said "And you don't talk about your parents"  
"Well you get straight to the point huh" he replied  
Haley blushed "Sorry, I kind of forget that not everyone likes to be asked questions"

Nathan chuckled "It's fine" he said before looking out into the ocean "My sister is actually the same age as me. We're not really related. My parents, Dan and Deb, took her in when she was six months. They're her godparents, her parents were friends of theirs and they died in a car accident"  
Haley put her hand on Nathan's "I'm sorry" she said  
Nathan shrugged "In a way I'm glad. I mean I wish she had gotten to know her parents, but I'm glad I got to be her big brother you know?"  
Haley nodded her head in understanding "so what's she like?" Haley asked

Nathan smiled in amusement at the thought of his sister "She's a spit fire. That girl is crazy in every sense of the word, but she's driven, passionate, motivated. And she loves with her whole heart" he said "It's probably why I'm so protective of her. Her and Lucas have this weird relationship and as much as I trust my brother, and I know he'd look after her, I still worry about her"

"That's understandable. No one wants to see someone they love risk having their heart broken. But it's a process of life, people we love will break our hearts or they leave and you just have to hope that there are still people around to help you pick up the pieces when they do" Haley said  
Nathan smiled, this girl understood him more in the past five minutes than anyone in his life had his entire 18 years  
"as for my mum" he continued "She sort of went off the deep end when I was 14. She started abusing prescription pills, and when she got herself clean she left. Packed up in the middle of the night and I never saw her again, last I heard she has a whole new family in New Zealand" he said

Haley felt her heart break for Nathan "I'm so sorry, I wish things had worked out better" she said rubbing her hand over his  
Nathan shrugged "that's life right?" he said "Besides, it meant I got to know Keith, Karen, Lucas and Lily better. After my mum left my Dad started travelling a lot more for work, we only really saw him when he couldn't avoid coming back - which wasn't that much - so Keith and Karen looked after us and my sister and I grew up with them"

Haley smiled "Karen and Keith are amazing. Especially after everything Dan put Karen through, they still open up their hearts and their homes, there are few people left as good-hearted as them" she said  
Nathan smiled again "so Haley James, what about you?" he said  
Haley frowned, feigning confusion "What about me?" she asked  
Nathan shook his head "Oh no you don't, I told you about me. Now you got to talk, spill the beans Hales"  
Haley felt her heart skip as he said that name. _Hales_. She was convinced it sounded better coming from his mouth compared to anyone else.

"Well, as you already know I've got four brothers and three sisters. In age order there's Brian, Vivian, Quinn, Liam, Josh, Taylor and then me. My parents are big hippies, the minute I turned 15 they packed up the RV and decided to roam the country. They stop in at my older brothers and sisters houses to check up on them and their families, and they call me and Taylor every night since we were the only ones still in Tree Hill up until two months ago. They gave up now I'm at college and Taylor's off doing what she does best. Booze and Men" Haley shook her head

"She sounds like a handful" Nathan joked  
Haley rolled her eyes "Oh she is. The amount of times I've had to bail her out of Jail or pick her up from the middle of nowhere because she was too drunk to remember, is obscene. But she's kind of like your sister, crazy yet fiercely loving" Haley replied  
Nathan's brows furrowed "Wait a second, you're missing one" Haley looked at him equally confused  
"Brian, Liam, Josh. There's still one more brother"  
Haley sighed as she looked out to the waters "James" she whispered. She coughed loudly to rid herself of the strained voice that would come with the tears "He died last summer" she said looking down

"Crap" Nathan muttered feeling like an idiot "I'm so sorry"  
Haley shook her head "You didn't know. It's just hard, he was probably the sibling I was closest too. He was my best friend, and then one night some drunken driver comes along, blows a red light and suddenly I'm left without a brother" she said, her tears falling slowly down her cheeks  
Nathan tilted Haley's face towards him and used the pads of his thumb to wipe her tears. He kissed the hand he held within his and then wrapped his arms around her shoulder, pulling her curled up body into him.

They stayed like that for a while until Haley's crying stopped and she was calm  
"sorry" she said wiping her eyes with her sleeves  
Nathan waved his hand and scoffed "Don't worry about it. You can always talk to me, I know we just met but I've got a feeling you and I can eb great friends Haley James" he said  
Haley smiled "Friends, that's a start" she smiled

Nathan kinked his eyebrow at her as they stood "oh so you plan on there being something more?"  
Haley simply smirked "You'll have to wait and see I guess" she said walking back up to the beach house where the party was

Nathan smiled and shook his head, This girl was going to be trouble.  
And honestly, he couldn't wait.

* * *

*March 22nd, 2010*

Haley smiled as she talked with her new roommates, Brooke and Peyton. They had both grown up together in Tree Hill and were best friends.

"So when is all your stuff coming?" haley asked looking around the room at the two suitcases each girl had brought with them  
"Oh my brother is bringing it all up from my car after his basketball practice" brooke answered "Hopefully he brings Luke too" she said looking at Peyton with dreamy eyes  
Haley furrowed her eyebrow as she thought to herself. _Why does she seems so familiar?_  
Haley heard the knock on the dor and went to answer it still trying to figure out why Brooke sounded so familiar, and upon opening the door, the answer hit her right in the face.  
"What are you two doing here?" Haley asked them  
She saw his smirk "We're here to say hi to my sister, and meet her roommate" he said

"Nate!" Brooke squealed as she hugged him, then Lucas and Peyton followed suit  
Brooke kept her arm around Nathan's shoulder as she looked to Haley "Oh this is our roommate Haley" she said  
Nathan smiled amused as he stuck out his hand and shook hers  
"Actually, we've already met"

 **A/N: ok, so originally the last bit with Brooke and Peyton was way longer but for some reason my document didn't save it! So I had to rewrite it and couldn't remember what I wrote except for Haley frustratedly saying 'bite me' and Nathan smirking then responding 'with pleasure'. I'm going to try and work that in later since I couldn't put it back in here. Please, as always, REVIEW and PLEASE let me know what you think! Enjoy your weekend, I'll try to update sometime this upcoming week.**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	4. The Beginning of A Beautiful Friendship

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry about the delay in updates, I've been trying to finish my first Naley story - For Better or For Worse - and I pushed everything else to the back, but I'm trying desperately to make up for it and update all my stories each week.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **4\. The Beginning of A Beautiful Friendship**

*March 22nd, 2010*

"I can't believe you and my brother are seeing each other" Brooke said as she, Peyton and Haley were unpacking their things in the dorm room.  
Haley shook her head as she looked at Brooke over her shoulder "We're not seeing each other"  
"Whatever you say Tutor Girl"

Haley spun around and looked at Peyton in confusion "Tutor Girl"  
Peyton rolled her eyes "Nicknames were made for Brooke Davis. She's got one for everyone, and she's got couple and friendship names for people too"  
"Like me and Lucas, Brucas. Nathan and Lucas are just Scotts" Brooke explained as she assessed her wardrobe space. Her eyes lit up and she turned around looking at Haley excitedly  
"OOOH! You and Nathan can be Naley!" She said looking at Peyton "Even their nickname is perfect. I'm telling you they're hooking up sooner or later"

"We are not!" Haley said once again.  
"Are you saying you don't like him?" Peyton raised an eyebrow  
Haley shrugged "he's alright" _Lie_ she thought "I just don't know if he's my type" _LIES_ "I'm really not looking for anything right now" _Good god woman LIIIIIES!_  
Peyton looked at Brooke with a less than convinced face as Haley turned her attention back to unpacking.

* * *

"So what's the deal with you and Nathan?" Jake asked as they walked around campus  
Haley groaned frustratedly "God, what is with everyone today!? You, Brooke, Peyton. Can no one understand that we're just friends, if even that? We met last night"  
Jake put his hands up in surrender "Hey, I'm just asking. There's a sort of spark between you two, we can all see it" He spoke "And he's the first decent guy I've met since Justin"

Haley scoffed at the mention of her ex-boyfriend "Yeah, and look how great that turned out"  
Jake sighed heavily "Hales, you know that wasn't-" haley cut him off  
"It doesn't matter, I've gotta get to my dorm, Quinn said she'd drive the rest of my stuff up so she should be here soon" she said walking off from Jake, who groaned at his stuff up.

* * *

"So Haley Bob, all ready now for college?" Quinn said as she flopped down next to her sister on the bed  
"Our parents are horrible. Who names their kid after a frickin cat!?" she flopped her hand over her face  
Quinn chuckled "Ours" she stated simply "You know you wouldn't want them any other way Hales" she nudged her sister's shoulder  
Haley shrugged in agreement as the two sat in silence

"So, whose this guy Jake was telling me about on the phone? Nathan?" Quinn asked after a moment  
Haley groaned "Really? He's just a guy that I met, He's Lucas' half brother. You remember the Karen, Dan, Deb mess"  
"Ooooh yeah, Tree Hill had some good drama growing up" Quinn replied bumping her sister's shoulder "Do you like him?"  
Haley looked down at her hands on her stomach "I don't know. He's just...He's really nice, and he's the first person that doesn't treat me like I'm made of glass. Even when I mentioned James. He didn't ask me how I was feeling about it all or any of that, He just comforted me" she said "It was kinda nice"

Quinn smiled "I think that's more than liking him Bob"  
Haley blushed slightly at the realisation that she could see herself falling for Nathan Scott  
"Does he know everything from that summer though?" Quinn asked  
Haley sighed and turned her head to look at her sister "No"  
"Hales, you can't-" Quinn sighed  
"I know" Haley cut in "But I only just met him, can't I just enjoy myself for a little while before I have to ruin it all? I promised James I'd live my life, just let me do it my way Quinn"

Quinn shook her head, agitated "Fine, but under protest" she said  
Haley smiled "Thank you Quinn, you're always here for me"  
"I'm never leaving you" Quinn said taking her sister's hand in hers "Except for right now to shower so we can head out!" she exclaimed standing up and pulling her sister up too

"Get ready, we're leaving in an hour. That should give us plenty of time to get you and me both good and drunk"  
"Aren't you supposed to be all sensible now? You're 25, steady boyfriend and job. Aren't I supposed to be the crazy one?" Haley yelled at her retreating figure  
"You and I both know that you've never been the crazy one!" Quinn yelled from the bathroom  
"True" Haley muttered "Fine, let's go!" She yelled as she went to get ready

* * *

Quinn and Haley arrived at the club, _Trixie's._ It was around 9:00pm and the place was getting crowded  
"This is the life!" Quinn said as she and Haley sat in a booth near the stage. She looked to her younger sister and sighed when she saw her focusing solely on her drink. She picked up a chip from the bowl on the table and threw it at her  
"Hales! Come on, I'm only here tonight can you at least pretend to enjoy yourself?"  
Haley smiled apologetically "You're right, I should be having fun" she stood up "how about we dance?"  
Quinn raised an eyebrow at her "Seriously? That alcohol must be hitting you harder than I thought" she said as she stood up and joined Haley on the dance floor.

Brooke, Peyton, Lucas, Jake and Nathan had all just arrived. Quinn had invited Jake and Brooke when she met her and told them to invite the rest of their friends.  
Brooke's eyes scanned the bar as she saw Haley and Quinn get up from their booth and head to the dance floor. She grabbed Peyton's hand and dragged her to them, yelling at the boys to man the booth.  
Nathan shook his head at his sister's antics before grabbing some drinks from the bar and heading towards Lucas and Jake who were sitting at the booth Quinn and Haley had left.

"Haley looks like she's having fun" Lucas said as he looked to his old friend and her sister  
Jake smiled "Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen her this happy. She'd normally just curl up in bed and read, it's nice to see her getting back to normal"  
"Yeah" Lucas smiled in agreement. He had heard from Jake about James and Justin, as well as through his calls and letters with Haley.

Nathan frowned at the two friends, he could tell something was going on and that it was involving Haley, but he knew it wasn't his place to but in. He picked up his beer and took a large gulp before heading standing up  
"I think I'm going to go join them, anyone else?" he smirked  
Lucas grinned cheekily "I guess I could steal Brooke away" he said as Nathan groaned  
"Dude, you've had a crush on her for years, it's getting pathetic" he said as he looked at Jake, who was staring dreamily at Peyton

"She's single you know" Nathan said breaking Jake out of his trance  
"Oh I know, we hung out at that party when you and Haley disappeared" he said  
All three boys walked out to the dance floor, Lucas grabbing Brooke and Jake grabbing Peyton. Nathan walked nervously over to Haley, who had now been left alone as Quinn went out the back to take a call  
"You look good" Nathan leaned down and spoke in haley's ear

Haley smiled and turned around, grinning at Nathan "What are you doing here?"  
"Quinn invited Brooke and Jake, and they brought me, Peyton and Lucas. You want to dance?" he asked  
Haley shook her head as Nathan spun her around so that her back was to his chest. He normally hated dancing but for Haley James, he'd do just about anything.

They moved in sync to the music, their bodies in time with each other. Haley had her body pressed against his fully and could feel every inch of his well defined chest. She reached behind her and brought his hands to rest on her hips.  
They danced like this for a while, not noticing that their friends had all gone to get a drink, or that Quinn had come in with her fiancee Clay.

"Who's Haley having sex with out there" Clay said feeling protective of his baby sister-in-law  
Quinn rolled her eyes at him "they're dancing. I do recall you and me dancing like that quite a few times" she chuckled as he winked at her "That's Nathan, Lucas' brother. He plays for Duke, you should take a look at him"  
Clay looked at her curiously before sitting down "I just might"

* * *

Nathan and Haley returned to the table about 45 minutes later, not noticing the looks all their friends were giving them.  
Haley let out a squeal when she saw her future brother-in-law at the table as Clay stood up and hugged her lifting her off the ground and spinning her around. Nathan looked at the man, feeling a surge of jealousy course through him at the way Haley reacted to seeing him. _Relax dude she's not yours, play it cool_ he thought.

Clay put her down and Haley placed her hand on Nathan's arm as she introduced them  
"Clay this is Nathan" she said as Clay stuck his hand out  
"Nathan this is Quinn's fiancee Clay" She said. Nathan felt a huge gust of relief hit him as he heard her say that.  
Nathan smiled brightly "It's nice to meet you man"

Clay smiled back "You too, I've actually already heard a lot about you" he said  
"Nathan looked at him curiously "Really? Can I ask why that is?"  
"Well" Clay said looking at the group of friends then back to Nathan "I'm actually a sports agent" he said  
Nathan's eyes widened slightly, feeling the excitement set in at the prospect of finally getting a representative. All the ones he'd met so far were only interested in making money and signing him quickly to any team that would take him.

But something about Clay made Nathan think this partnership could work. Maybe Clay was the agent Nathan had been looking for  
"Well then, how about we talk a little business sometime?" Nathan smirked  
Clay chuckled "I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" he said slapping his hand on Nathan's back

 **A/N: OK! And there's chapter 4! I'm not sure how I feel about it, especially how I feel about the way I introduced Clay, but I want Clay and Quinn in this story and I wanted a different storyline than the show in terms of how they meet. So, I hoe you liked this chapter and as always PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you think or if there's anything you'd like to see**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	5. Coincidence or stalking?

**A/N: Hey, So I'm trying to move this story along a little bit so that we can get to the good part. I want to thank each and every one of you for your lovely reviews and PM's I'm so happy you're liking this story**

 **Enjoy!**

 **5\. Coincidence or stalking?**

*March 25th, 2010*

Haley stood to the side at the local coffee shop as she waited for her coffee order to be called. It was Monday morning, 6:00 am. Officially the first day of class.  
Haley let out a yawn as the waitress called out her name. She smiled gratefully at the young girl as she took her coffee and walked out the door, he class was in 30 minutes, enough time for her to have her coffee and make it to the lecture hall.

She looked down at her timetable on her folder double checking which room she was walking to when she felt herself collide with something. Haley jumped back as her her books dropped and her coffee spilled down her shirt. She groaned as she peeled the wet material away from her chest, fanning herself so that the drink wouldn't burn her skin.

"Shit" she heard as someone bent down to pick up her books "I'm so sorry, I had my headphones on I didn't see you"  
She bent down and began to gather the loose papers that had come out of her folder and replied "It's ok I should've been looking too" she said

"Haley?" she looked up and saw blue eyes once again  
"Nathan" she smiled as they both stood up. Nathan's eyes widened when he realised it was her he had bumped into "I'm so sorry are you ok?" he said looking at her stained, wet shirt.  
Haley shook her head before taking her folder and books from him

Nathan looked at her wet blue shirt and felt even worse "how come you're up so early?" he asked her  
"I have a lecture at 6:30" she explained, looking down at her watch "I better get going before I'm late, I'll have to live with smelling like coffee for the next hour" she joked as she pulled her folder to her chest before feeling Nathan's arm on hers

He let go of her and reached into his back pocket where his shirt was tucked into while he ran. He pulled it out and handed it to her "here, you can use this"  
Haley shook her head "Oh no Nathan really you don't need to-"  
"I insist, it is my fault anyways"  
Haley smiled as she took the shirt and placed it over her, keeping her arms inside while she pulled off her other shirt. She looked down at the _Ravens Basketball_ T-shirt then back at Nathan's face

"It might be a bit too long" he chucked as she gave him a 'duh' look  
"Thank you Nathan, and it was both of our faults but no harm no foul right?" she said as he nodded "You'll have to let me know how I can make it up to you for letting me borrow this" she smiled as she began to walk off

She still had about ten minutes to spare and was almost at the door to the building her lecture hall was in when she heard Nathan's voice  
"Haley!" he yelled running after her. Haley couldn't help but stare as he came towards her, his shirtless chest glistening with a small sheet of sweat covering him  
"Do you want to hang out later tonight?" he asked "Brooke, Peyton and Lucas are coming over and I thought maybe you and Jake would like to join us"

Haley smiled shyly, feeling ridiculous for thinking he might actually be asking her out "Yeah, I'll check with Jake but I'm sure we can come. I have to get to class, thanks for the shirt" she said before turning around and walking into the lecture hall.

* * *

"Jake I think I like him" Haley said as she flopped down onto his bed, her hands fiddling with the ends of Nathan's shirt, which she had yet to remove.  
Jake smiled as he sat down next to her, guitar in hand "Hales that's awesome!"  
"No it's not. I'm an idiot" she sighed "I don't think he likes me anyways"  
Jake put his guitar down and looked at Haley sternly "Why do you always do that?"

she sat up and looked at him confused "do what?"  
"Put yourself down. I get it Hales, Justin broke your heart. But he's a fucking idiot and he was the biggest dick to you and he doesn't deserve you, and I'm glad he's gone otherwise I would -"  
"Ok relax there rocky" Haley smirked "I just...I don't want to get hurt again Jake. I can't"

Jake smiled sadly before taking Haley's hand in his "Hales, love hurts sometimes. That's a risk you have to take, but I think it's one that's worth taking with Nathan. He'll be good for you"  
Haley raised an eyebrow "And how would you know?"  
"Because I know you Haley James. And I know Nathan, he's a good guy and I know he would never do anything to intentionally hurt you" he said "Just, let your self be open to the possibility ok?"

Haley shook her head and smiled "Okay" she said giving him a hug "Thank you Jake, I don't know what I'd do without you"  
Jake smiled as he wrapped his arms around her "luckily you won't ever have to find out"

* * *

"well well" Nathan said as he and Lucas spotted Jake and Haley in the coffee shop later that afternoon "twice in one day"  
"and soon to be a third tonight" Haley smirked "If I didn't know any better I would think you were stalking me Mr. Scott"  
"I prefer to call it a happy coincidence Miss James" he replied

Jake raised an eyebrow at Lucas who simply shook his head, seeing the spark that their two friends denied was there.  
"So what are you guys doing here?" Lucas asked as he sat next to Jake forcing Nathan to sit in the available seat next to Haley.

Jake shrugged as he picked up his coffee "We both finished our first day of classes so we figured we'd just catch up and talk"  
"So, what do we need to bring tonight?" Haley asked as she looked at Nathan  
Nathan shook his head "just yourself" he smiled "so how were your classes, I hope you weren't late because of me" he looked concerned

Haley shook her head "no, I was still five minutes early"  
"You always were an early bird Hales" Lucas said as he and Jake both noticed they were being ignored by the two people sitting across from them, the two both too engrossed in their conversation to know anyone else.

Lucas and Jake both stood up "I think I'm going to go get us some coffee, you guys want anything" Jake smirked as Nathan and Haley both kept talking completely oblivious.

Lucas and Nathan were walking through the door and into their living room in the late afternoon, after having spent two hours talking with Haley and Jake about their childhoods and their hometowns.

Correction, Nathan and Haley spoke about it.

Lucas and Jake just sat there and watched the two while they ate.

"Dude" Lucas said as he shut the door behind her "What is going on with you two?"  
Nathan looked at him and frowned "Who?"  
"You and Haley man. You like her" Lucas smiled in amusement

Nathan could feel himself blushing slightly "Please, we're just friends"  
Lucas laughed as his eyes widened "oh my god you're blushing. You like her!" he yelled  
Nathan glared at him "Would you lower your voice please?"  
"Not until you admit it" Lucas said.

Nathan cocked his head to the side and looked at his brother with an unamused look, daring him to make a move. Lucas smirked before opening the door wide open again and singing loudly, and off-key.  
"Nathan and Haley sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-"

"OKAY!" Nathan yelled clamping his hand over his brother's mouth, who still continued to try and sing under Nathan's hand "Fine I like her ok!? I really like her"  
Lucas jumped up as down once as he shut the door again "We knew it! We totally called it!" he cheered  
"Wait" Nathan said confused "Who's we?"  
"Me and Jake. We saw it that first night at the party" Lucas smirked once more "so when are you going to ask her out?"

Nathan sighed "I'm not"  
Lucas looked bewildered "Why not? She's amazing, smart, beautiful-"  
"Exactly Luke. She's amazing" Nathan said sadly "I'm all messed up man, especially after Rachel and my accident. I don't want to drag her into a relationship with so much baggage" he said sitting down at the kitchen counter

Lucas shook his head and chuckled "Nathan, I love you man, but you're a fucking idiot" he said "Yeah Haley is amazing, but you underestimate yourself. The fact that you're still standing after everything you've been through is amazing. You've got so much adversity Nate. Haley could just be the best thing that will ever happen to you"

Nathan looked at him in disbelief "and how do you know that?" he sarcastically stated  
"I've got a feeling about you two. Just you watch" he said as he patted his Nathan on the back "Just ask her out at least, okay? At least you know you tried, rather than wondering what might have been"

Nathan simply nodded before Lucas walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer, passing Nathan one as well.

* * *

Haley, Jake, Nathan, Lucas, Peyton and Brooke were all seated in Nathan and Lucas' apartment watching a movie. They were originally going to live in the dorms but there housing got messed up and so Karen and Keith offered to buy an apartment and rent it out to them, with the payments being saved for their futures.

Brooke and Lucas were sitting on the love seat, both talking amongst themselves having long forgotten about the movie. Jake and Peyton were both too engrossed in each other, talking and sharing more than the occasional kiss. And Nathan and Haley were left on the couch, Nathan sitting to one side with his hand firmly on Haley's legs which sat on his lap as she lay with her back against the side arm and her body lay out on the couch.

She felt her skin tingle at Nathan's touch, his hands gently moving and massaging her calves and feet. He didn't try to move his hands further up; he was being a perfect gentleman. Haley looked over at him and smiled. He was nothing like Justin, she knew Jake was right.

She needed to move on from last summer. So much had happened. She'd promised James she would live her life and take every opportunity, and she knew she needed to let go of the past to fully embrace her future.

Nathan looked over at Haley and frowned as he saw the look on her face, something was bothering her, he could tell. He gently pinched her right leg, causing her to jump slightly and looked at him with a startled and curious expression

 _You ok?_ He mouthed as she shook her head and gave him a smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. He knew something was up but he didn't want to push her and make her feel uncomfortable.

The movie ended a short while later and the group of friends were all sitting around drinking and talking.

Nathan looked at the time and realised that it was getting to 11:00pm and he was feeling hungry; they hadn't eaten dinner.  
He sighed before standing up from his spot on the couch next to Haley and went to the counter to grab his wallet "I'm gonna go get us some food, what do we all want?"

"Chinese" "Pizza" Peyton and Brooke answered at the same time as Jake and Lucas.  
Haley chuckled as she stood up "I'll come with you, the stores are near each other we can just go get both" she suggested as Nathan nodded in agreement and headed out the door with her.

This was his chance, he was finally going to man up and ask Haley James on a date.

 **A/N: So this is officially 2007 words long! I Hope you all enjoyed chapter 5, Nathan will be asking Haley out, and their date as well as some revelation of truths will all be coming up in the next few chapter.  
As always PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you think, and if there's anything you'd like to see for their date.**

\- **Maddie :)**


	6. Manning Up

**A/N: So, here is Chapter 6! I'm so happy that people are loving this story and my other ones, your reviews are wonderful so thank you! The next update may be a while as I'm having my wisdom teeth removed later this afternoon and will be out of it for a little while. So I hope you like this chapter :)**

 **Note: The first little bit is just basically continuing from the end of last chapter, which is why I didn't add in the date and year like normal. And also, I don't really know a lot about basketball so I don't really know If I used the right terminology - I just used Google haha :P**

 **ALSO: I used a couple Naley and Leyton lines from season 4. hope you like 'em**

 **Enjoy!**

 **6\. Manning Up.**

"I love nights like this" Haley said as she and Nathan walked along the docks, Chinese food and Pizza in their hands  
Nathan looked up at the stars above them and smiled "yeah, it is really nice" he said in reply as he looked down at her smiling face. He couldn't help but think she was absolutely beautiful.

"It reminds of back in Tree Hill when Taylor, Quinn and I would lie down in the backyard and tell stories, and Quinn and Taylor would talk about their boyfriends and parties. I always felt so cool getting to hear about it all" she laughed

"Hales" he said, stopping and looking at her "You know, I-" He couldn't do it. It was as if all the words had left him, everything that was in his head seemed to have evaporated. He kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to articulate his words but only stuttering

"I-" he tried again "I once went out with my friend Jimmy. Me, Lucas and Mouth once sat out on the rivercourt for hours playing basketball on a night like this" he said. _So much for having some guts man_ he heard his inner voice say.  
Haley smiled and looked up at the night sky again, taking it in. She knew he wanted to say anything else, but she didn't want to push him on it. "We should probably get back before the food is cold, they'll kill us otherwise" she joked as Nathan nodded his head and they kept on walking to Lucas and Nathan's apartment

* * *

*March 25th, 2010*

"I can't believe you chickened out again man!" Lucas laughed as Nathan pulled out a beer from the fridge. Their friends had all left about ten minutes ago, after having had dinner and talking a little more.

"You're Nathan Scott, I thought you were all smooth and confident with girls, what the hell happened!?"  
"I don't even know!" Nathan groaned "I had a whole plan of asking her and I just froze" Nathan banged his head against the kitchen counter for effect

"Lucas chuckled and patted his brother on the back "Well, it's game day tomorrow, that should give you something to look forward to. Maybe you'll get the courage to ask Haley out then" he said before walking into his room.

* * *

"Wait" Brooke said as she, Haley and Peyton walked through the door of their dorm room "Nathan didn't say anything to you?"  
Haley shrugged "He was trying to tell me something I think, but he just started stuttering and then said something about a memory he had of him, Lucas, Mouth and Jimmy at the Rivercourt" she replied  
Peyton looked over at Brooke, who looked like she was about to explode. She couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at her best friend.

"I could tell he wanted to say something else, but something scared him off" Haley chuckled half-heartedly "I thought he was gonna ask me out. How stupid"  
Peyton smiled "Well maybe he'll tell you soon, Just give him time Haley. And he'd be crazy not to want to ask you out, just so we're clear" Peyton smirked.  
Haley nodded and smiled sadly "I just get the feeling that he's holding back something" she sat down on her bed "Not that I'm any better" she mumbled dropping her head in her hands.

Brooke kinked an eyebrow as she looked at Peyton, and then to Haley "What was that about Tutorgirl?" she said  
Haley smiled at the nickname Brooke had donned her "I'm frustrated that Nathan's holding back, but I shouldn't be. I'm doing the same thing too" she said looking at Brooke  
"And what exactly are you holding back from him?" she asked

Haley shook her head "It's something he'd need to hear first Brooke, I'm sorry"  
Brooke shook her head and sat down next to Haley, wrapping her in a side hug "no worries" she smiled "I know my brother Haley. It takes him a little time to truly tell people how he feels sometimes. He likes you, that much I'm sure of, just give him some time"

Haley shook her head and leaned her head on Brooke's shoulder. Time. She could give him that.

* * *

*March 26th, 2010*

The Duke Blue Devils were down by 5 at the end of the third quarter. Coach K was rambling on about how the team could still come back, and that the sun wouldn't rise tomorrow if they lost. Nathan chuckled softly, _He sounds like Whitey_ he thought to himself.

The bell in the locker room rung, alerting them that there was five minutes until the beginning of the third quarter. Coach K walked out, the team following behind them. Lucas stopped Nathan for a moment as everyone left the locker room  
"Are you okay man? It seems like your head's somewhere else" Lucas said.  
Nathan shook his head "I don't know man. I just feel off"  
"This isn't about Haley is it?" Lucas asked  
"I don't know" Nathan sighed "Maybe"  
"Well, you've got to get your head in this game Nate. We need you" Lucas patted his brother on the back before walking out.

Nathan took a deep breath before walking out of the locker room as well  
"Six turnovers?" He heard as he walked past her "That doesn't sound like Nathan Scott"  
"Haley" he smiled as she hugged him "What are you doing out here?"  
Haley smirked "Well, it looked like you were struggling a bit. I just wanted to make sure you were doing ok"

Nathan smiled wider as he heard the buzzer sound signalling the beginning of the fourth quarter  
"Hey I gotta go, but can we talk later? I have something to ask you"  
Haley nodded and smiled "Sure, Good luck" she said kissing his cheek  
"thanks Hales" he said before walking out to the court and Haley joined Brooke and Peyton at their seats.

* * *

"The Duke Blue Devils have made an incredible comeback!" Marvin McFadden cheered through the speaker in the announcer's booth "Nathan Scott, with five seconds left has stolen possession of the ball and scored two points with a lay-up, putting the Blue Devils at 60-49 against Syracuse. The last three seconds of the game the Scott brothers with the help of Jake Jagielski held possession strongly and were so close to scoring again before the buzzer but just narrowly missed" Marvin commentated as The teammates all shook hands in congratulations and thanks.

"This has been an amazing game, and The Blue Devils have proven that they are truly well-deserving of winning the ACC championship. We'll have to keep a look out to see if they go all the way folks"

Nathan cheered as he and his brother embraced in a celebratory hug. They had done it. They had won. They were now one step closer to the grand finals.  
Nathan looked around for Haley while Peyton and Jake embraced, as Brooke jumped into Lucas' arms kissing him passionately as Nathan looked on in utter shock.

"Um..." Nathan said as the two pulled apart "When did this happen?" He smirked  
Brooke blushed as she tucked her head under Lucas' chin "Last night, we talked about it while the movie was on, and then again when you and Haley went on a food run"

Nathan smiled as he patted Lucas' back and kissed Brooke's cheek as she looked at him "I'm happy for you guys"  
Lucas smiled "Thanks man"  
"Now what about you?" Brooke asked  
Nathan frowned "What about me?"  
"You gonna go get her?" Brooke said as she tipped her head in the direction behind Nathan, who turned around and saw Haley looking around for him.

Nathan's smile widened further as he saw her "I'll catch up with you guys later"  
"Haley!" Nathan ran up to her as she saw him.  
"Nice shot!" She smirked as he approached hers.  
"Nice legs" he replied as he reached her. Haley blushed slightly as they both chuckled when Nathan reached her.

"Congratulations Nate!" She squealed as he picked her up in his arms, and spun her around "I knew you guys could do it!"  
Nathan chuckled "Thank you Hales. You have a lot of faith in me since we haven't known each other that long"  
"I know! But I feel like we've known each other for so long" Haley said in reply

"Hales, can I ask you something?" Nathan asked, Haley shook her head. "I've been wanting to ask you this for a few days, and I tried when we were did that food run a few nights ago. But I chickened out, and I've been trying to man up and ask you and I just keep getting so nervous -" he rambled as Haley put her finger against his lips.

"Nathan" she chuckled "Breathe. And tell me what you wanted to ask" She smiled  
"go out with me" He blurted "Wait. I mean, would you like to go out with me?"  
Haley held in a laugh at his flustered state "Nathan, I-"  
"I know that we haven't know each other that long but I like you. I really like you. And I think there's something here. I know I have a bit of a reputation but I haven't been like that in a long while, and I really want to see where this goes-"  
"Yes!" Haley said cutting off his tangent once more "I would love to out with you"

"Yes?" Nathan said as she shook her head "YES!" He yelled as he lifted her off the ground again, kissing her as she wrapped her arms around his neck, his arms wrapping around her legs under her butt.  
They let the kiss escalate, Nathan's tongue gaining access to her mouth. They pulled away and rested their foreheads against each other, taking in a large breath.

"I've been wanting to do that since the first time I saw you" he whispered breathlessly  
"I've been wanting you to do that since the first time I saw you" Haley replied as she leaned down to kiss him again, ignoring their friends whoops and cheers behind them.

 **A/N: OK, there's chapter 6! I hope I didn't disappoint with the whole Nathan asking Haley out scene. It was originally planned out differently, but as I wrote it the direction changed. I hope it's still enjoyable for everyone.**

 **As always, PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you think!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	7. The After Party

**A/N: Hey! So I'm back sooner than I thought because I got a review from a guest in the last chapter, and I realised I need to clarify a few things about the Brooke-Lucas-Nathan back story:**

 **IMPORTANT: In chapter 3, Nathan states that him and Brooke are** **NOT RELATED** **. Brooke is Deb and Dan's** **goddaughter** **and her parents passed away so she lives with Nathan's family and they're extremely close. They have a brother-sister like relationship but are not related. So Brooke and Lucas are not related either, which makes their relationship totally non-incestuous.**

 **Hope that clears up any confusion :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **7\. The After Party**

*March 26th, 2010*

"Hey Tutorslut" Brooke said as she walked into the kitchen where Nathan and Haley were standing. Dean Ryans, a fellow senior and Duke Blue Devils player, had decided to host the after party/celebration of the game at his house, which is where they were all at now.

Haley looked at Brooke slightly offended "excuse me?" she said  
Brooke chuckled "I'm referring to yours and BoyToy's kiss Haley" she winked as Haley felt the heat rise in her cheeks  
Peyton let out a laugh at the reference of Nathan's nickname "Oh my god I don't think I've heard you call him that in forever"

Haley looked up at Nathan "What's that all about?"  
"Nothing" he answered quickly, his eyes darting to Brooke who was barely holding in her laugh  
"Oh come on Nate, you gotta tell her" Lucas said chuckling at his brother's glare.  
"Should I be nervous?" Haley joked

"At our old high school, there's a ravens tradition that each year the cheerleaders host an event for the public which raises money for charity, and the Ravens basketball players participate in some way" Brooke explained  
"So of course had the bright idea to throw an auction" Peyton started "A Ravens Auction"  
"And what did that entail?" Haley asked, curious about the story

"Well, we auctioned off each basketball player and they were under the control of the highest bidder for the rest of the night. We sold everyone off, and obviously left our captain until last" Brooke smirked "And being the ego-filled captain that he was, Nathan came out and did a little strip tease for all the mums and classmates of ours"

Haley's eyes widened as she looked up at Nathan "It's not as bad as it sounds!" He yelled out "I only took of my jacket and shirt"  
Haley giggled as Peyton kept explaining "And so, when he took of his shirt Nathan decided to have BoyToy written across his chest in bright blue. The mum's went nuts" She laughed "And we've just always called his BoyToy after that glorious moment" she finished

Haley laughed "BoyToy! that's the best story I've heard in so long"  
Nathan pouted as everyone laughed at the story "I don't get why it's so funny" he sulked  
"Because you thought that you showing off your body and boosting your ego wouldn't come back to bite you in the ass!" Brooke chuckled

Haley smiled teasingly as she looked up at Nathan's pouting face. She leaned up and kissed his cheek "I'm sorry, but you have to admit it's a pretty good story" She whispered in his ear  
Nathan relented and smiled slightly "Yeah it is"  
Haley looked back at the group of friends gathered in the kitchen and smiled. She felt comfortable with all of them, like it was the first time she had ever truly belonged anywhere.

* * *

Jake and Peyton had now moved to the den, where multiple couples were hooking up and people were talking. It was the more quiet area of the party. Brooke and Lucas had gone upstairs to make use of the ample amount of bedrooms in Dean's house. This left Nathan and Haley sitting outside on the steps leading from Dean's house to the beach.

Nathan had his left arm wrapped around Haley as she snuggled into his side. They were content with just sitting and watching the waves fall upon the shore. Haley looked up at Nathan's face and smiled  
"I like this" she whispered. Nathan looked down at Haley and smiled before leaning in and kissing her tenderly. She reached her left hand up to rest against his cheek as he rested his hand on the small of her back, rubbing up and down slowly.

They pulled away after a while and Haley chuckled softly "You know, I kind of feel like we jumped a step or two" she smiled  
Nathan looked at her intrigued. "Well you asked me out on a date, and then we started making out at the basketball game and we're telling Brooke and our friends we're together. And yet we haven't actually gone out on a date"  
Nathan laughed thinking about it "That's true" he said "Well if you'd like I can just not kiss you until I take out out on a date"  
Haley shook her head exaggeratedly "Oh no, I don't think there's any need for that" Nathan smirked at her response before leaning in to kiss her again.

"So, can I ask what you want us to be?" Nathan said as he pulled away  
Haley smiled shyly, looking down at the steps they were sitting on "Well, I'm hoping this whole dating thing leads in the direction of me being your girlfriend" she whispered  
Nathan tilted her head up and leaned in slowly once more "I think I'd like that" he whispered before kissing her again.

Haley pulled away this time and stood up, earning a confused look from Nathan.  
"I'll be back, I just need to use the bathroom" she said as he nodded.  
Nathan looked out to the water again and smiled. _Life was good_ he thought.

"Well, well" _Ok, I take that back_  
Nathan groaned before standing up and turning around "What do you want Rachel?"  
Rachel smiled slyly, walking over towards Nathan before standing in front of him. She reached her hands up and planted them on his chest before being shrugged off by Nathan. She pursed her lips  
"I saw you with your little friend just before" she said "You really think she's enough of a hook-up to forget me Nathan?"  
Nathan rolled his eyes at her before replying "she's not some random hook-up. She's my girlfriend Rachel"  
 _Well, almost_ he thought _Minor details Nathan._

Rachel narrowed her eyes "Girlfriend!?" she screeched  
Nathan smirked "Yeah" he replied, watching the rage spread over Rachel's face. She stomped her foot before shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, Nathan felt a chill run down his spine at her sinister-calm look.

"We'll see how long she lasts once she hears about Maddie" she cocked an eyebrow in satisfaction  
Nathan looked at her shocked, panic setting in "You wouldn't" he said, a begging undertone in his voice  
"Oh Nate, but I would" she said "that's what happens when you try to push me aside Nathan" she said before walking off

Nathan grabbed the stairs railway and gripped it tightly, his knuckles turning white.  
"Hey" Brooke said as she walked up to him, a slightly dis-shelved Lucas following behind "everything ok?"  
"I don't know" Nathan said as he looked out into the ocean once more.

 **A/N: And that's chapter 7! I know it's a bit secretive right now, but I did say at the beginning of this story I was trying to make it a little more angsty and dramatic than my normal ones. But just so we're clear there's no cheating or two-timing. You'll find out more about Maddie and Nathan, as well as Haley and Justin in the upcoming chapters.**

 **As always, please leave me a review and let me know what you think and if you can guess what's going on!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	8. I'm Begging You, To Let Me In

**A/N: Hey, Sorry it took so long to get this up I was on holidays! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and that you like the chapter  
Note: For the phone call, Nathan is in _Italics,_ and Haley's just normal. That way i don't have to keep writing Nathan/Haley said after every reply :D**

 **Enjoy!**

 **8\. I'm Begging You, To Let Me In.**

*April 18th, 2010*

Nathan and Haley had been dating for almost a month now. They were growing closer and their relationship was developing emotionally, physically however..They had hit a wall.

Haley had wanted to wait a little while until their relationship had progressed and Nathan was fine with that. But now, when she was ready to finally tell him about her past and move forward to that next step, it felt like he was avoiding her.  
He had been making trips down to Tree Hill every weekend, with the excuse that he promised Karen he'd 'check in' often.

Haley was panicking. Was he getting bored of waiting? Was he getting what she wouldn't give him from someone in Tree Hill? She knew that Nathan wouldn't cheat, but she couldn't help her mind from going to the worst places.  
She groaned as she walked into her dorm room and flopped down on her bed.

She lay there for a few minutes with her eyes closed, enjoying the peace and quiet. That was until her phone started ringing. Haley blindly felt around her bag next to her and grabbed her phone, tapping her screen until she finally hit the green answer button.

"Hello?" she said  
 _"Hi Baby"_ Nathan's voice crooned, Haley's eyes opened wide  
Haley felt her heart skip a beat "Hi" she whispered  
Nathan chuckled _"I miss you so much Hales, you have no idea"_

"Well maybe you shouldn't leave every weekend"  
she felt her agitation at Nathan's silence _"I wish I could, but Karen really needs my help around the house"  
_ "I thought the reason was that you were supposed to be checking in"  
 _"It is"_ he stumbled _"It's just Keith's hurt his back recently and so he's struggling with some of the maintenance around the house so I told him while I'm down here I'll help out with it"_

Haley sighed internally. Nathan wasn't being completely honest with her, she could tell. But she hoped that when he was ready he would tell her. Hopefully.  
"So, how's Tree Hill?" she asked changing the topic  
 _"really good, I've missed being able to come to the rivercourt every morning"  
_ "We've only been in college a few months Nathan"  
He chuckled _"Yeah, I guess I just never really appreciated it enough you know?"_

Haley sighed "Yeah. I know" she thought of her brother  
 _"Everything okay?"_ he asked concerned  
"Yeah, but I do need to talk to you when you get back"  
 _"You're kinda scaring me here Haley"_ Nathan replied nervously  
"It's nothing bad I promise. I just, need to get some things out in the open before we move forward. okay?"  
 _"okay"_ just then haley heard a yell in the background

 _"Daddy come play with us!"_  
Haley frowned "Daddy?" she asked  
She heard Nathan's nervous chuckled _"uh yeah, Keith's here too. I was playing with Lilly, Lucas' younger sister, and her friend when I called you. I guess she's trying to recruit Keith now I'm busy"  
_ "Oh, ok" she said in reply. An awkward silence overtook them.

Nathan sighed heavily _"Hey, I'll call you later tonight and let you know about all my flight details for tomorrow ok?"_  
"Sure. Bye Nathan"  
 _"Bye Hales, take care"_

Haley hung up her phone and tossed it back on the bed.

* * *

"Haley!" Lucas yelled in her face. Haley looked up surprised as she took in the sight of Lucas, Jake, Peyton and Brooke all looking at her with concerned faces. "Have you hear anything we've said the past ten minutes?" He asked  
Haley smiled sheepishly "sorry, my mind's somewhere else i guess" she replied. Nathan had called a half hour ago to confirm his flight back to Duke; their conversation had been awkward and stiff, something unusual for the couple.

Jake frowned "That's not like you, what's going on buddy?"  
"I think Nathan's hiding something from me" she said.  
Lucas, Brooke and Peyton all looked at each other with the same look on their face, a look that did not go unseen by Haley and Jake.

"He is isn't he?" she said looking a Brooke, who nodding guiltily "Oh god" she shook her head, feeling tears brim her eyes.  
"It's not what you're Haley. Nathan will tell you, I promise. It just takes him some time to trust people, and he doesn't want them to bear the weight of his past if they don't need to"

Haley shook her head, but her eyes were glazed over. She was trying desperately to hold in her tears as different ideas popped into her head. She stood up suddenly and walked over to Jake's front door, grabbing her coat and slipping on her shoes.  
"Where are you going?" Peyton asked  
Haley just shrugged "I just need some time to think" she replied as she opened the door to leave. she stopped short and turned around "Hey Luke, how's Keith?"

Lucas frowned "He's fine. I spoke to him this morning when Nathan called, I think he said he was moving Lilly's new bed into her room or something?" he replied  
Haley tried to ignore the sting in her heart knowing that Nathan hadn't been honest with her. She plastered a smile on her face.  
"I'll see you guys later" she said before walking out the door.

"Okay, what the hell was that all about?" Jake said when the door had shut.  
Peyton just looked at her boyfriend and started to explain everything.

* * *

*April 19th, 2010*

Haley stood in the North Carolina Domestic Airport. She was waiting just outside the gate Nathan said he would be at, bouncing nervously from foot to foot. She had no idea how to act around him. Brooke had said that what he needed to tell her wasn't bad, but her words from the night before kept biting at Haley's subconscious.

 _It just takes him some time to trust people_

It hurt her that Nathan didn't trust her. They were together, at least she thought they were. They had agreed that fateful night at the party that this relationship was heading down the boyfriend-girlfriend path. But they never really discussed it after that.

Maybe now was that time.

Haley was broken out of her thoughts as she saw Nathan appear from the gate. His face broke out into a bright smile when he saw her, and she braced herself as he sped towards her dropping his bag off his shoulder and sweeping her up in his arms and kissing her.

Haley let herself melt into him, into their kiss. They broke apart after a few minutes and Nathan put her back down on the ground his arms still wrapped around her waist. They both had their foreheads touching as they regained their breath  
"Hi" he whispered  
"Hi" she breathlessly replied "that was one hell of a welcome home"  
Nathan chuckled "tell me about it"

He kissed her once more before leaning down and picking up his bag, placing the strap over his left shoulder and across his body so the bag rested at his right hip. He wrapped his left arm around Haley, kissing the top of her head  
"Let's get out of here shall we?" he said, to which Haley simply nodded as they walked out of the airport.

* * *

Nathan and Haley sat on the couch in Nathan and Lucas' living room watching a _Friends_ Re-run marathon. Haley had her head resting under Nathan's chin, half her body on top of his stretched out along the couch while the other half was tucked between Nathan's side and the backrest of the couch.

Nathan's phone buzzed on the coffee table, he reached out to get it and Haley froze as she saw the name. _Maddie_  
Nathan stood up, oblivious to Haley having seen "Hey I'll be right back I have to take this" he walked to his bedroom and shut the door.  
Haley felt tears prick in her eyes. Maybe she was wrong. Her and Nathan hadn't been official, maybe he was still weighing up his options?

Haley felt like she couldn't breathe. Maybe Brooke was lying to her as well, after all her and Nathan were practically family. Why wouldn't she help protect him?  
She felt like she was suffocating. She quickly grabbed her shoes from beside the couch and started putting them on before grabbing her jumper and slipping it on as well. Nathan emerged from his bedroom just as she was standing up

"You going somewhere?" he said, stopping short as he saw the tears filling up in her eyes "Haley what's-"  
"You know I thought you were different" she cut him off "Brooke and Peyton, they told me you were a god guy. Even Luke and Jake vouched for you. Jake told me I should take a chance, that you were nothing like him. But you're exactly like him aren't you? I'm an idiot" she muttered the last bit to herself as she looked around the room, gathering up her phone and house keys.

"What are you on about Haley, what's wrong?" Nathan frowned in concern and reached out his arms, stopping when she took a further step away from him.  
"Don't" she sneered "Who's Maddie?"  
Nathan's eyes widened momentarily "no one" he said  
Haley scoffed "that's why she just called huh?" she shook her head in frustration "If you didn't want to be with me all you had to do was say so, you don't need to keep some thing on the side and lie to my face about it" She replied feeling the anger surfacing.

Nathan felt his own anger building up inside of himself "What the fuck makes you think I'm cheating on you!? You're my girlfriend Haley I would never do that to you!" he yelled  
"How am I supposed to know I'm your girlfriend!? You never said anything after that night! You've got girls calling you late at night, you're leaving me in the middle of a movie to answer them, you're gone every weekend and you don't seem to mind the fact that we're not having sex!" she yelled right back at him  
"I didn't mind because you said you weren't ready, and I didn't want to push you!" He felt the frustration building up in him

"I don't get why you can't just be honest with me Nathan!" she sighed in frustration  
Nathan rolled his eyes "you're one to talk"  
"Excuse me!?" she spat  
Nathan looked her dead in the eyes "You never talk to me about anything real Haley! You clam up at the mention of your past. Of your brother, of your past relationships. Every time I try to get to know who you are you put up these walls, and I'm trying so damn hard to get past them but you don't want to let me in" his voice had lowered now, his hurt clearly displayed "You're not honest with me. You don't trust me" he whispered

"I told you I wanted to talk to you when you got back Nathan" Haley replied, feeling her earlier anger and frustration dissipate "I wanted to tell you everything, because I wanted to show you that I do trust you. That I want you to know everything, because I want to let you in. and that scares the living shit out of me Nathan. I've built up those walls because it's the only way to protect my heart, and you're the first guy in a long while that I know could shatter it into a million pieces" she said finally letting the tears fall from her eyes.

Nathan was astounded by her declaration. He sighed and cautiously stepped closer, wrapping his arms around Haley's shoulders and pulling her into his body as she cried. He closed his eyes tightly, feeling all the anger and frustration from before fading away, guilt replacing it. Haley was right, he had been hiding from her. Trust was a two-way street, and right now she was the only one making an effort  
After a few minutes Nathan pulled back slightly and moved his hand to lift Haley's chin so she was looking right at him.

He leaned down and kissed her softly "I'm sorry" he whispered against her lips  
"You have to trust me Nathan. I need you to trust me. That first moment I met you and we sat on the beach and talked; I wanted to tell you everything really I did, but that summer is hard for me to relive. It's with me everyday but talking about it-"  
"I know" Nathan said quietly "You're right. I haven't trusted you. And it's not because I don't want to, I do. I've just shielded myself from everyone for so long that I don't know If I can even do this. I can see myself falling for you, Haley James, and I don't want to do something to mess that up"

"who's Maddie?" She asked quietly. She watched as Nathan opened and closed his mouth several times, as if having an internal debate as to whether or not to answer. Haley sighed sadly and leaned up to rest her head against his "If you don't start letting me in Nathan, you're going to mess this up without even trying. There's something that's stopping you from opening up to me Nathan. I told you before that I was ready to tell you everything, to take our relationship further. But not once did you say the same" she stated. Haley wiped her eyes before kissing his cheek and pulling away "I should go" she spoke quietly before walking to the door

"Haley-" Nathan started  
"Call me when you're ready to let me in Nathan" She smiled sadly before opening the door and walking out, leaving Nathan staring at the doorway.

 **A/N: OK! Don't hate me! I was going to have them resolve everything at the end of this chapter but I'm keeping that for the next chapter instead. I did say there would be drama but it's nothing big I promise! A little fighting is healthy guys!**

 **As always, please leave me a review and let me know what you thought. The more reviews, the faster I'll update.**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	9. Making A Choice

**A/N: Can I start by saying you all are AMAZING! The amount of reviews I got and the amount of PMs I got too telling me that you liked the story is overwhelming and it makes me so happy that I got super-inspired to write a new chapter so soon :) Keep the reviews coming, I'm on camp until Friday afternoon but the more reviews the faster I'll update.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **(PS: Sorry to the one Guest reviewer who I will be disappointing because the story is going exactly where you didn't want it to...Oops? haha but I hope you still read it :D)**

 **9\. Making A Choice**

*April 25th, 2010*

Lucas walked into the apartment with Brooke, groaning at the continual sight that he saw. Nathan was laying on the couch, food spread out on the coffee table, the TV on the sports channel and a complete couch-potato Nathan Scott. He had basically become a zombie. He only went out to go to Basketball training and games, other than that he stayed at home and did nothing.

"Ugh, this place smells even worse than this morning" Lucas complained as he took off his jacket  
"Actually, I think it's more someONE smells worse than this morning" Brooke said raising an eyebrow at the raven haired man "When was the last time you had a shower?"

Nathan shrugged "Can't you just leave me alone?" he said, not taking his eyes off the television screed. Brooke huffed at being ignored and walked in front of the TV and turned it off, standing in front of the screen so Nathan couldn't turn it back on with the remote. "Hey!" he whiningly yelled "I was watching that"

"I don't care" Brooke bit out "Get your ass off this couch and figure your shit out. You're a mess, Haley's a mess. You need to realise what you want and you need to do it soon or you're gonna lose her Nate" Brooke yelled frustrated.

Nathan froze at the mention of Haley. They hadn't spoken in almost a week. He hadn't seen her or anything. He didn't know what to do anymore. He knew he wanted to be with her, but what if she couldn't handle it? What if his secret was their downfall? What if she ran?

"I already have" he whispered sitting up on the couch. Brooke sighed sadly and sat down next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder.  
"You haven't Nathan. She's just as upset as you, she just wants to know the truth. And quite frankly she deserves it"  
"What if she doesn't want me when she finds out Brooke? You saw how everyone in High School treated me when they found out, it took months to be treated as normally as people could possibly treat me after they knew"

"You're forgetting something Nathan" Lucas piped up from his spot against the front door "Haley's not any of those people. She cares about you, she wants to be with you. I've known her most of my life Nate, she's not the kind of person to judge"

Nathan shook his head and stood up "I'm going for a shower" he said before rushing into the bathroom.  
Brooke walked over to Lucas, who wrapped her in his arms "I really hope they figure this out Luke. She's miserable without him""  
"I know" Lucas sighed "give it a little more time, if Nathan doesn't make a move then we'll come up with a plan ok?"  
He spoke feeling her nod against his chest. He kissed the top of her head before resting his chin on top of it  
"I love you, you know that right?" He said

Brooke looked up at him. It was the first time he had said that to her. Sure, they had only been dating a few months but there had been feelings building long before that. Brooke smiled  
"I love you too" she whispered kissing him softly.

They stood in each other's embrace, oblivious to Nathan watching on from the doorway. He smiled sadly before walking into his bedroom and closing the door quietly. He walked over to his closet and started pulling out clothes and shoving them into his suitcase.

* * *

*April 26th, 2010*

"So, what happened exactly?" Peyton asked as her and Jake sat down at their lunch table across from Brooke and Lucas that Saturday morning.  
"He just walked out his bedroom door this morning with a suitcase, said he figured everything out and that he needed to get to Tree Hill" Brooke shrugged  
"Well, hopefully he'll come back with the answers to Haley's questions. Have you guys seen her lately?" Jake sighed  
"We live with her" Brooke deadpanned "If I have to listen to one more repeat of Michelle Featherstone I'm gonna take a baseball bat to her record player"

"I like that song" Peyton said  
"Of course you would" Lucas replied, earning a slap on the chest from Peyton  
"And what is that supposed to mean?" she glared  
"Please , if it wasn't for Lucas I would have nicknamed you Broody. You're like Broody Junior" Brooke said  
Peyton moved her glare to Brooke as Jake chuckled. Peyton slapped his shoulder "Sorry babe but it's true"

Brooke looked at the time and sighed "We gotta get back to her" She said kissing Lucas' cheek before standing up as Peyton did the same.

The girls arrived at their dorm room ten minutes later, and Brooke groaned as she opened the door and Michelle Featherstone's _Coffee and Cigarettes_ Played out for what felt like the billionth time.

"Hales?" Brooke called out as she knocked on her bedroom door, not receiving an answer as usual. Brooke sighed and pushed open the door seeing Haley curled up in bed, her textbook open on the same page it had been this morning when Brooke and Peyton had left her.

"Sweetie" Peyton sighed as she sat down and wrapped her arms around the girl. Haley sniffled as a few tears threatened to fall from her eyes  
"I don't know why I'm this upset. We barely dated, I shouldn't feel this much pain right?" Haley asked.  
Peyton smiled sadly "You fell for him Hales, hard. You're both hurting"  
Haley scoffed "Well clearly he didn't care enough to tell me the truth so I don't see why he's hurting"  
"Haley" Brooke spoke sternly "You're both keeping secrets from each other. You can't get angry at the fact that he wasn't ready when you were to share. That boy is falling so hard for you, he's a zombie lately. He just goes to basketball training and his games and then he sits in front of the TV all day"

"Really? Because I heard that he went to Tree Hill this morning. Again" Haley replied  
Before Brooke could answer, there was a knock at the door. Brooke went out to answer, calling out a few minutes later  
"Haley! You need to come here!" Brooke screamed, causing Haley to panic ad run to the door, stopping in her tracks as she took in the sight of Nathan.

"Hi" he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Nathan shifted from foot to foot, waiting for Haley to reply  
"What are you doing here Nathan?" She said rather defensively. As happy as she was that he had come to see her, she was still hurt from their last conversation.  
"You said to call you when I was ready to tell you everything" He said "Please Hales, can we talk?" He pleaded.  
Haley looked in Nathan's eyes. She could see the pain, the same pain she was sure were in hers. She sighed "Ok, just let me go get change" she said walking back into her room, but not before catching the bright smile that took over Nathan's face.

* * *

"So, you gonna talk?" Haley said after a few moments of silence. Nathan told her they were going to his place, that he had to show her something.  
"I was scared ok?" Nathan said softly "My whole life, I've had difficulty trusting people. It's not hard to believe when you look at my parents. I always thought that if I just kept to myself, that if I wasn't a burden no one would leave. But that changed just before my 16th birthday"

Nathan shut his eyes and took in a breath. His eyes popped back open when he felt Haley take his hand, silently encouraging him to continue. He looked straight ahead as they walked, knowing that if he saw her expression when he told her that he wouldn't be able to do this.

"Her name was sarah. She transferred in a few months before my sixteenth birthday. She was so confusing. She was in almost every club, she had a 4.0 GPA. Yet she was probably the least-studious person you ever met. We met at a party, and we just clicked. Her parents weren't around either, and she lived with her sister and a whole bunch of her friends" he explained

"I didn't realise just how dark she was up until about a month after we were dating. She was in some deep shit, drugs, alcohol. She was partying every night and I just kept thinking 'it's ok. Just be there for her, we can fix this'. But I couldn't. The night of my sixteenth birthday she came to my house. I was pissed at her, she hadn't come for the party Brooke threw and she hadn't answered all day when I called her. She showed up at my doorstep pissed drunk and said 'Happy Birthday Nathan, You knocked me up" he spoke bitterly at the end.

"She wanted to abort, but I couldn't imagine doing that. Our baby was innocent you know? He or She didn't deserve that. So I convinced her to have the baby, she agreed as long as she didn't have to have anything to do with it after it was born. So I agreed as long as she quit drinking and doing drugs while she was pregnant. What an idiot I was for believing it was as simple as her saying yes" he chuckled sarcastically

"That's terrible" Haley sympathised  
"Oh it gets better" he said "I found out at around the 6 month mark that she hadn't stopped at all. I was furious, she got me to pick her up from some party and I took her back with me to Karen's. I was yelling at her, asking why she would do something so reckless. And she just collapsed." He said as he thought about that day

"Her body went into shock, and the baby was in distress so they performed an emergency C-Section. We had a healthy baby girl, thankfully she didn't have any neurological or other deformities in her health. We were lucky. Sarah checked out of the hospital a week later, said she was leaving. I had Karen's lawyers draw up papers and she signed over her rights to me. I was going to give the baby up for adoption" he explained, as they reached the apartment block Nathan and Lucas lived in.

"But I held her in my arms, and I just knew I couldn't. she was mine, and I was all she had left, her mother didn't want her so I kept her" he said as they walked up to the front door of his apartment.  
"So where's your daughter?" Haley said as they walked into the house. Nathan opened his mouth to speak when a high-pitched squeal grabbed their attention.

"DADDY!" A little blue-eyed, brown haired girl raced down the hallway and launched herself into Nathan's arm, giggling as he kissed her cheek  
"Mads, this is Haley" he said as the little girl shyly rested her head on his shoulder  
"Hales" Nathan said smiling nervously  
"This is my daughter. Madeleine Grace Scott"

 **A/N: Once again, thanks for all your support with this story and I'm so happy you all like it! Let me know what you think and PLEASE leave me a review!**

\- **Maddie :)**


	10. I guess it's my turn now

**A/N: WOW! 10 Chapters already. It may not seem like a lot but for me it it, so thank you to everyone who has reviewed and stuck with me through the ten chapters. I've got a plan for this story and possibly a sequel so bear with me - I know it sometimes takes me a while but I always update, I hate when stories get abandoned and so I won't do that for no reason.**

 **NOTE: Madeleine Grace Scott is 3 years old, and I'm making her and Lily the same age. So Karen had Lily when Lucas was 16 instead of like in the show when he was 18.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **10\. I guess it's my turn now.**

*April 27th, 2010*

Haley and Nathan stood at the glass window at the plane terminal, as Karen and Maddie boarded the plane from the tarmac. He smiled as Maddie stopped at the bottom of the external staircase and turned around to wave up at the glass where she knew her dad was watching. Nathan and Haley both waved even though they weren't entirely sure she could see them.

They waited until the two Scotts had boarded the plane and were about to take-off before leaving the airport and heading back to Nathan's house. Haley and Nathan hadn't had much of a chance to talk a lot the night before. Instead Haley spent the night getting to know Nathan's daughter and all about her life in Tree Hill. She was attending Tree Hill preschool with Lily - Keith and Karen's daughter - for three days a week, and the other two days along with the weekend were spent in the diner with Karen and occasionally with Keith at the auto-shop. Nathan would come down and visit as many weekends as he could, and would always make it down for any important events in his daughter's life.

Haley couldn't believe how wonderful a father was. It wasn't that she doubted his parenting ability, but he was so adult about the whole situation, his sense of responsibility and the way he was with Maddie had her in awe of him.  
They reached the apartment complex and both walked up into the house in a comfortable silence. Haley headed for the bedroom to dump her jacket and bag while Nathan sat on the couch and waited for her.

Haley smiled as she walked back into the room and sat down next to Nathan.  
"We should talk Hales" Nathan started  
Haley nodded "I'm sorry for accusing you of cheating. I know you wouldn't, but I couldn't stop myself from imagining the worst possible scenarios" She explained looking down at her hands in her lap in shame.  
Nathan reached over and grabbed one of her hands and placed it in his "Hales, you kept saying I was just like him" he spoke softly, cautiously. He didn't want to scare her off. Not after all the progress they had made last night.

Haley looked up at Nathan and smiled sadly "I guess it's my turn to tell the truth huh?" she chuckled  
"You don't have to if you're not ready" Nathan squeezed her hand  
"No I want to, it's just hard" she whispered "I guess I should start by saying the whole drunk-driver story I told you that first night we met isn't true" she admitted guiltily.

Haley took a deep breath before beginning to tell Nathan about last summer. The summer her brother had died.  
"I had been dating Justin for two years, since we were 16. I thought he was perfect; he treated me well, he never pressured me about sex, he respected my decision to wait even though I wasn't a virgin. He respected me. He was best friends with my brother James. They had both been on the baseball team together so they formed a friendship and it's how I met Justin in the first place. We all thought he was a nice guy. He was just really good at fooling everyone" Haley sighed sadly.

"Last summer, the night that James died" haley started as tears filled her eyes, threatening to fall "I had a pregnancy scare. Justin and I, we'd been having sex a few months by then and everything was fine up until the week before when I realised I was late, But the doctor confirmed that I wasn't pregnant. I went over to talk to him about it all, I figured he should know about it so that there wouldn't be anything between us that I was keeping, you know?" she looked up at Nathan who nodded in understanding, waiting for her to continue. "So James dropped me off at his house and walked me inside, and when we got there he was... Let's just say he was in a compromising position on the couch with one of the cheerleaders." she spat the words

"I was so angry. He ran up to me in the few moments I froze looking at them and he kept apologising and saying it was a mistake. And I snapped, I punched him, and I yelled and I punched him again and then lunged at that bitch smirking at me on the couch. James had to drag me out while I kicked and screamed." She chuckled "We sat in the car for a few minutes so that I could calm down before he could let go of me and drive. Justin came out and was yelling at me and calling me a bitch and saying that I should've just given him what he wanted instead of making him wait for it that first year. And so James got up in his face and started telling him how he doesn't deserve me and that if he ever comes near me again it'll be the last thing he did. Typical big brother stuff" She smiled at the thought

"The rest was kind of a blur honestly. They were yelling, and I got out of the car to try and stop them and Jesse pushed me out of the way and onto the ground. so James punched him, and they just kept fighting. I yelled and grabbed at them to try and get them to stop and they just..they wouldn't listen!" She exclaimed as her tears finally fell "They fell to the ground and James hit his head on something and passed out, and Jesse just kept hitting him. I screamed and cried and begged him to stop and he just wouldn't" She sobbed as Nathan wrapped his arms around her and rocked her trying to settle her hysteric crying.

They stayed like that until Haley pulled away a few minutes after. She leaned back and looked Nathan in the eyes; calm, concerned blue meeting red and puffy hazel. "He woke up during the ambulance ride to the hospital, and he just smiled and told me he loved me and our family and that it wasn't my fault. He told me to make sure I lived my life for him, that I didn't let what happen consume me. I thought he would be okay. But there was a brain bleed cause by all the trauma to his head, and he had an aneurysm in surgery." She said taking a deep breath before softly, sadly, adding  
"My parents turned off his life support two weeks later"

Nathan pulled Haley into him and held her tight, his eyes closed tightly as his head rested on top of hers. He held her for what felt like hours before he heard her soft whisper "It was my fault"  
Nathan frowned as he looked down at her "Haley-"  
"I truly did believe that Nathan. No matter my brothers last words to me, I couldn't believe that it wasn't my fault." she said "And things just went downhill from there. I was going to parties, I had slept with guys I barely knew, I was a mess. Jake somehow managed to pull me out of all the darkness and remind me of James' words. And so I cleaned up my act, saw a therapist, and applied to Duke. I know I tell people I came here instead of Stanford because of the costs but really it's because this was James dream school. He wanted to go here for so long, and I promised to live my life for him and to the fullest, so I thought that going to Duke would help me feel closer to him"

"I'm so sorry all this happened to you Hales" Nathan whispered  
Haley shrugged "It's ok. I'm here, and Justin is locked away for a long time. I've moved on from it, now it's about living my life for myself, and for my brother." She smiled up at Nathan.  
"Thank you" He said  
"For what?" She asked  
"Telling me the truth"

"Nathan, I meant what I said. I wanted to tell you, it's just hard. But I'm glad we finally got all the secrets out in the open. I just want to focus on my life, and I'm hoping that will include you and Maddie" She said  
Nathan smiled "I would like that" he said as he kissed her. They pulled away and Nathan asked "How'd you like to come to Tree Hill sometime when I visit Maddie?"  
"Really?" Haley asked  
"Of course, She's so in love with you now I don't think she'd ever forgive me if I didn't bring her back here or take you there to visit her" he chucked  
"Well she's a beautiful girl, what's not to love about her?" Haley said "And yes, I'd love to come to Tree Hill with you" She answered before leaning in to kiss Nathan.

And for the first time in a long time, Haley finally felt like things would be okay.

 **A/N: Firstly, I don't really know what that ending sentence was but it just got there and I can't think of anything better :P I hope you've enjoyed reading chapter 10! There will be more Brucas and Jeyton coming up in the next chapters as well I promise!**

 **As always, please REVIEW and let me know what you think and if there's anything you'd like to see in the upcoming chapters. Hope you're all having a lovely week**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	11. Not Your Most Flattering Colour

**A/N: So, I got some lovely PM's from some of you and it motivated me to write another chapter within a week. So, thank you for all the people who reviewed last chapter and PM'd me. This is for you.**

 **This chapter is a bit lighter. I wanted to have a bit of a calm before the storm kind of thing for them I guess? Not a lot of drama coming but our favourite couple needs a little break anyways wouldn't you say? while this chapter does go a little downhill i promise it still a bit of a lighter chapter and leads to an even better chapter 12 :D**

 **NOTE: the chapter title didn't fit so it's a little different on the contents page!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **11\. Jealousy is not your most flattering colour.**

*April 29th, 2010*

Nathan and Haley sat wrapped up in each other on the beach with their friends, Haley sitting in between Nathan's legs with her head resting on his chest as his arms wrapped around her shoulders and he held her hands in front of them.

"You need to relax babe" Haley kissed his hand

"When you've got to deal with what I have to deal with right now, see if you'd want me to say the same thing to you" he grumbled tightening his hold on Haley, who simply laughed in response.

"They're not doing anything" she said looking at the group of guys around the bonfire

"They're looking at you like-" Nathan stopped and took a breath. He didn't want to think about what they were thinking about Haley.

"And I'm with you. So it doesn't matter okay?" She turned to look at him as he nodded her head "Now I'm thirsty, I'm gonna go grab a drink" she said as she stood up, only to have Nathan pull her back down.

"I'll go" he said as he stood.

Haley sighed "Nathan-"

"It's fine Hales, I've got it" he said walking off before Haley could give him a chance to say anything else.

Nathan walked to the tented area on the beach where the drinks were. He pulled a beer out of the ice coolers and grabbed a glass of coke for Haley since she wasn't feeling up to drinking tonight.

"That James girl is hot man" Nathan heard one of the beach blonde idiots say that were looking at Haley earlier as he walked past them "Scott sure got himself a nice piece there"

"I can't believe she got him to actually commit to a long term thing though" one of his friends replied "I mean, he dated Rachel. but that seemed more like a physical sort of relationship if you know what I mean" he chuckled

"She's so much better than Rachel though. Have you seen the ass on this one?" the first guy answered.

Nathan had had about enough at this point and walked up to the guys  
"You wanna say that to my face?"

The boy turned around and Nathan recognised him as Troy Wells, the softball captain. Major Douchebag in Nathan's books.

Troy smirked "We were just talking about how nice your girlfriend is" he smirked

Nathan held his tongue and stared the guy straight in the eye

"next time have a little respect. You understand me?" he said.

Troy held up his hands in surrender "Sure thing"

Nathan nodded at him before walking back to Haley, he was not three steps further from Troy before he heard him yell out

"So how do I respectfully say, she's got a killer rack and I'd like to hit that?"

Nathan saw the look in Haley's eyes, who had obviously heard what Troy had yelled. But he couldn't take in her pleading her eyes. He was seeing red.

he dropped the drinks from his hands and turned around and stormed straight back up to a proudly smirking Troy, and punched him straight in the face.

 _Crack._

Nathan heard the impact of his fist against Troy's nose before he felt it.

Troy bent over and held his nose for a moment

"You ever talk about her like that again and I'll fuck you up so bad-" Nathan didn't finish as Troy stood up and swung, Nathan just barely dodging his fist. Troy charged into Nathan's waist, pushing him further out onto the beach.

Haley shot up off the ground and ran over to Nathan, the rest of the group following behind her.

"NATHAN!" She screamed as she ran down the beach as the two continued to punch each other - Nathan more than Troy.

Lucas and Jake both pulled Troy awake from Nathan. Haley stood in front of him as he went to charge at Troy again, placing her hands against his chest

"Let it go!" she looked him in the eyes "he's not worth it!"

Nathan looked down at Haley and saw the sheer panic in her eyes. He instantly realised just what he done.  
He had been so blinded by his rage towards Troy that he didn't even think about how his actions would scare Haley, especially with everything that had happened between James and Justin.

Nathan closed his eyes as he nodded his head, taking in a few much needed deep breaths. Haley turned around and looked at Troy

"I think it's time you left" She said as Troy looked at her and scoffed

"Bitch" he muttered as he walked off.

Haley pushed against Nathan again as he snapped, trying to charge after Troy again. Lucas and Jake both came over and held him back.

"Come on Nate, let's get you some ice" Lucas said as he pulled his brother towards the tent to get him some help.

"Haley, you coming?" Brooke said when she noticed her friend had not moved.

"Acutally...I think I'm gonna go" She whispered

"What? Why?" Brooke said confused

"I just need some space right now Brooke. If Nathan asks...just tell him I'll see him later ok" she looked Brooke in the eyes, silently pleading with her.

Brooke nodded and frowned "are you sure you're okay Hales?"

haley smiled tightly "I'll see you at home Brookie" she said before walking off.

Brooke watched her friend walk off before turning around and walking to the covered Area where Nathan was holding a bad of ice to his fist, while Peyton held one to his swelling eye

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Brooke screamed

"Brooke, I'm really not in the mood right now" Nathan sighed

"Well I don't really care!" She snapped back "Why the fuck did you do that!?"

"He was talking about Haley, Brooke! What did you expect me to do!?" Nathan yelled back

"You know better than this Nathan! How are you going to explain this one to Maddie, huh?" Brooke said, lowering her voice at the mention of her goddaughter "You let your jealousy get the better of you and for what? All you did was upset Haley and piss me off. You're supposed to be the bigger man here Nathan!"

And that's when it clicked to him

"Where is she?" Nathan said

"Who?" Jake asked confused

"Haley" he looked around before looking back at the brunette "Brooke" he stated sharply

"Oh no!" She said angrily "Don't you take that tone with me. You deserve this"

"Brooke I'm serious, where is she!?" Nathan yelled

Brooke looked at Lucas and her friends pleading eyes and sighed "She left"

"what?"

"She said she needed some time and to tell you she'd see you later"

Nathan tossed the ice bag aside and stood up brushing off Peyton in the process

"I have to go" he walked off, leaving his friends to all trade concerned looks with one another.

* * *

Nathan had only been driving for about ten minutes when he saw Haley walking along the road side. It had started to rain and he could see her shivering from a mile away as she held onto her now wet clothing which clung to her body.

"Need a lift?" he yelled out the window as he approached her.

Haley jumped at the voice but soon recognised who it was and shook her head "Nope"  
she continued walking

"Come on Hales, it's raining. You're going to get sick or hurt out here. Just let me drive you home"

"I really don't want to talk right now Nathan. just leave me alone" she folded her arms tighter over her chest and kept walking, not glancing his way once.

"Fine" Nathan said as he stopped the car in the middle of the road and jumped out. He began walking beside her

Haley stopped after a moment. "What do you want Nathan?" she bit out, feeling irritated at his lack of listening.

"I'm sorry"

"You're sorry!?" She screamed "Nathan, I told you to leave it alone! I BEGGED YOU TO!"

"I know, I should have listened to you-"

"But you didn't. Does what happened to James not mean anything to you!? Do you not get how scared I was in that moment just now!?" she cried "Did you not, for even one moment, think about me?"

Nathan stepped forward and grabbed her in his arms, wrapping her up in his embrace. She pushed against his chest trying to fight him off to no avail.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry baby" he kept whispering to her as she finally let go, sobbing against him.

"I can't lose you too nathan!" she cried out over the sound of the rain "I can't do that again"

"I know. I didn't think. I'm sorry"

They stayed like that, in the rain, for a few more moments until Nathan pulled away and looked down at her.  
He kissed her softly ran his hand through her drenched hair.

"Can I please get you out of this rain and take you home now, before you get sick?" he pleaded

Haley nodded her head and they drove back to the dorm rooms. The two walked up the stairs together in silence. Haley opened the door of her apartment and they both walked in and sat on the bar stools at the kitchen counter.

"I'm sorry" Nathan broke the silence first "You're right, I didn't think and I should have considered how that would've hurt you. You have to know I wouldn't have done it if I knew. I'm so sorry baby"

Haley nodded her head "I know you are Nathan. But I can't keep doing this with you. This can't happen again. I can't handle it Nathan, promise me. Please" she pleaded.

Nathan grasped her hands in his "I promise" he kissed her knuckles softly.

They stayed like that for a few moments until Haley broke the silence

"Will you stay with me tonight?" She whispered "It's just... After tonight, I really just need to know that you're not going anywhere"

Nathan held her tight "Of course" he mumbled against her forehead as he kissed her.

"I love you" she blurted out. Nathan looked down at her shocked as she pulled away slightly to look into his eyes

"It might be too soon, but I love you. I think I have for a while now"

Nathan smiled brightly "I love you too" he said before pulling her in for another kiss.

* * *

*May 5th, 2010*

Haley eyed the bar in frustration from where she sat in the round booth of the local club. Nathan had gone to get the guys some drinks and a couple of girls had surrounded him, trying to sink their claws into him.

"You gonna do something about them?" Peyton said

"Like knock out their teeth?" Haley gritted back

Brooke chuckled "Calm down tutor girl, I was thinking more along the lines of claiming what's yours"

Haley skulled her drink, feeling the alcohol burn as it made its way down her throat and course through her veins. She stood up, self-consciously pulling down her the short strapless dress Brooke had forced her into, and walked confidently over to the bar.

Nathan smirked as he saw the look on his girlfriend's face when she walked over and pulled him in for a kiss. But this wasn't just any kiss; it was was rough, passionate and full of love (or lust, Nathan wasn't really sure). She was making a claim on her man. She was jealous.

And Nathan loved it.

"Sorry ladies but he's needed on the dance floor" Haley said sweetly and fake smiled at the blondes who scoffed in reply as Haley dragged Nathan out on the dance floor. Nathan, however had other plans and took Haley's hand and dragged her further through the dance floor until they reached the door to the back entrance.

They quickly emerged and before Haley could say a word Nathan had backed her up against the wall and attacked her lips with his own.

Haley moaned in reply, taken aback by the sudden advances of her boyfriend, not that she was complaining. She gripped onto his shoulders as Nathan lifted her off the ground and Haley wrapped her legs around his waist as the continued making out.

"You know" Nathan said between kisses "Jealousy really isn't your most flattering colour"

Haley scoffed and looked him in the eyes "I was not jealous"

"It's okay" Nathan smirked "I thought It was pretty sexy, even if it is a bit unfair"

"Unfair?" She raised an eyebrow

"Well if we're going by past experiences, I should be upset with you shouldn't I?"

Haley glared at him before slapping his chest slightly "you're toeing the line Scott" she chuckled as Nathan shrugged in apology before the darkness in his eyes took over once more

"Now, where were we?" He said as he leaned back in to pepper kisses all over Haley's neck. She moaned loudly this time as Nathan's lips sucked tightly, determined to leave a mark on her smooth, flawless skin.

Haley opened her mouth, feeling the arousal build up between her thighs and from Nathan against her stomach, and muttered almost incoherently

"Nathan"

"Hmmm" he answered against her skin

"Take me home" she whispered.

Nathan stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, curiosity in his eyes. Was she saying what he thought she was?

"Haley? Are you-"

"I'm sure" she answered " I love you. Take me home Nathan"

 **A/N: and the end of chapter 11! Now I need help in terms of next chapter.**

 **I don't want this to be a smutty story but I do feel like them having sex for the first time is something that might be important to show, do you want me to write it or would you rather not? Keep in mind it's probably the only sex scene I'll write in this story, I want it to be more T than M this time.**

 **Let me know what you think in your reviews!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	12. The Scott Family

**A/N: Again, thanks for your reviews! I love you wonderful human beings that are reading my story and reviewing and giving me your opinions and thoughts. Thank you.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **12\. The Scott Family.**

*May 6th, 2010*

Haley's eyes fluttered open as she took in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that this wasn't her room. And this wasn't her bed. And these weren't her clothes. She frowned in confusion, still feeling half-asleep. She could hear a thudding in her ear, and that's when she looked up.

She was laying with her head on Nathan's chest. He had his arms wrapped around her waist, and Haley had one leg tucked between his two. She looked down and noticed the thin sheet covering both their bodies, as memories of last night flooded back...

 _"Nathan, I need you" Haley moaned as he slowly kissed down her neck and across her shoulders. Haley's hands went straight to Nathan's shirt as she started to undo the buttons, her hands moving frantically. She whined when she felt Nathan hold her hands still._

 _"It's been a while. For both of us Haley. Let's just take it slow. I want to do this right, savour the moment and all that" he smirked._

 _Haley smiled "I can't believe I got so lucky" she whispered in awe as she stroked his cheek._

 _"Well technically, you haven't gotten lucky just yet" He chuckled as Haley slapped his chest "Wow, you're rough Hales"_

 _"Nathan Scott, I swear if you don't stop you won't be getting anything from me" She giggled_

 _Nathan smiled and shrugged before leaning back in to kiss her..._

"Hey" Nathan whispered, startling Haley from her thoughts "What's on your mind"

Haley smiled "Just thinking about last night"

"That good huh?" He smirked

Haley shuffled up and kissed him softly "It was amazing. I never knew it could be like this"

"Never knew what could be like this" He frowned

"Love" she simply replied "With Justin -" she sighed "It was all a facade. I thought it was real but I had no clue what love was. And I do know. So thank you"

Nathan smiled "Well thank you for letting me love you. For letting me in. I love you"

"I love you too Nathan"

"Well that's good" He said "Because I have something to ask you"

Haley raised an eyebrow in curiosity "What is it?"

"Well, our mid-year holidays are next week. And I know you're going to visit your parents in the third week, but I was wondering if you wanted to come spend some time with me in Tree Hill first?"

Haley sat up and looked at Nathan "Really?"

Nathan sat up and nodded as well "Really. Karen and Keith want to get to know you, and I know Maddie would love to see you again. And Lily is so intrigued to see who this woman is that Maddie rambles on and on about" he laughed at Haley's blush "And I'd really love to have you there. Plus Lucas and Brooke will be there too"

Haley kissed him "Yes. I would love to come"

Nathan's body sagged in relief "Thank goodness. This would have been really awkward otherwise" they both laughed before Nathan pulled Haley into a kiss, both falling back onto the bed. Any any other thoughts of Tree Hill, or anything else really, vanishing from their minds.

*May 10th, 2010*

"You ready for this?" Nathan said as he picked up his and Haley's bags from the luggage arrival bay in Tree Hill Airport.

"I think so" She replied holding Nathan's left hand in her right one, with her suitcase rolling along her left side. Nathan looked down at her and raised an eyebrow

"You think?" he asked "Hales, it's okay if you're not ready. We can turn around and -

"It's not that I'm not ready" She interrupted "I'm just nervous. I really want them to like me. I really want Maddie to like me"

Nathan kissed her cheek and let go of her hand to wrap his arm securely around her shoulder, pulling her into him.

"Maddie loves you. And so will my family. You've got nothing to worry about" he kissed the side of her head, feeling Haley nod slightly before they continued out of the airport and into the main area of the arrivals area.

Haley was beginning to question her sanity when she agreed to this. She had been in a post-sex haze. Her judgement couldn't be trusted.

"DADDY!" Haley and Nathan both turned their heads just in time to see Maddie running towards them both. Nathan quickly dropped his duffle bag and bent crouched down with open arms as Maddie flung herself into him. Nathan chuckled as he lifted his baby girl up from the ground and swung her around as she giggled profusely.

"Hey Mads" He kissed her cheek "I've missed you so much baby girl"

"I missed you too daddy" the 3-year-old said kissing her father's cheek.

"Do you remember who this is?" Nathan said turning his body so Maddie could see Haley.

Maddie smiled shyly, burying her face in the crook of Nathan's neck

"Haley" Maddie waved timidly.

Haley smiled and leaned her head in to whisper to Maddie

"Hi Maddie. We've missed you" Haley reached out her hand and tenderly brushed away the little girls brunette locks from her face. Maddie smiled up at her.

"Nathan!" Karen called out and waved as she saw him. Nathan waved back and took his suitcase, setting Maddie down and holding her hand while they walked over to him. Haley walked alongside and stopped momentarily when she felt Maddie grab her hand as well. She looked at Nathan and smiled as they continued walking.

"Oh my boy!" Karen cried as Nathan met the older woman, who was waiting alongside Keith and Lily at the entrance to the airport

"Hi aunt Karen" Nathan hugged her. He pulled back and shook Keith's hand "Guys, this is Haley. Haley, this is Karen, Keith and Lily" he said pointing to each of them

"Hi, it's nice to meet you" Haley said as Karen wrapped her arms around the young girl, surprising Haley "I'm so happy he's finally brought someone home! I thought he was going to live the rest of his life alone" Karen cried dramatically.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he watched his aunt hug Haley.

"Karen darling, she needs to breathe" Keith chuckled as Haley let go of Haley.

Haley hugged Keith and bent down to say hi to Lily before they all headed to the car.

"And that there is the Cape Fear River" Nathan pointed towards the water from the Rivercourt.

He and Haley were sitting on the bench; Haley settled between Nathan's legs with Nathan's arms wrapped around Haley's shoulders. They smiled as they watched Lily and Maddie play on the court, bouncing the mini basketballs Nathan had gotten them for the previous Christmas.

"They're such wonderful girls" Haley whispered as she watched the two friends.

"I still can't believe she's mine Hales. I'm so thankful that I have her though. Now that she's here, I can't imagine my life without her" Nathan replied "Or without you" he added

Haley looked up at Nathan. She could see the honesty in his eyes, she could hear it in his words. She leaned in and kissed him gently, the two holding on for a moment. Until a loud yell interrupted

"Ew, daddy!" Maddie yelled as Lily giggled "That's gross!"

Nathan and Haley chuckled as they looked at the two little girls.  
"You think so, huh?" Nathan smirked looking at Haley

"Uh huh" Lily agreed "Mama and Daddy do it all the time. It's yucky" she sassed with her hands on her hips.

Nathan stood slowly and walked over to the two girls, Haley following him.

"So you don't like kisses huh?" He said as he got closer to Maddie and Lily.

Both girls eyes widened as they realised what Nathan and Haley were doing and quickly squealed and ran off, Nathan and Haley chasing after them.

Haley tossed and turned in bed beside Nathan. Karen had taken them to the Diner and they had enjoyed a lovely dinner with light conversation. Karen and Keith genuinely seemed to like Haley. It helped to make her feel more comfortable, and less nervous.

She snuggled into Nathan and could heel herself drifting off to sleep, until a loud sniffle cut through the serenity. Haley turned her head and looked towards the doorway

"Maddie?" she said groggily "what's wrong sweetheart?"

Maddie sniffled and clutched her baby blanket that Nathan had gotten her tightly in her hands. Haley quietly got out of bed and walked over to the little girl, getting down onto her knees in front of her. She placed her arms gently on each of Maddie's shoulder, rubbing up and down soothingly.

"What happened hun?" Haley whispered as Maddie sniffled, tears sitting in the rims of her eyes.

"I had a bad dream" she whispered "There were monsters under the bed"

Haley smiled softly "I remember having a dream like that when I was a kid. Well, how can I fix it?" she asked

Maddie looked down on the floor "I sleep in Daddy's bed" she whispered

Haley smiled "Well we can still do that"

Maddie's head perked up, eyes bright once more "Really?" she asked timidly

Haley shook her head and lifted the little girl into her arms. Maddie laid her head down on Haley's shoulder as they went towards the bed. Haley laid Maddie down next to Nathan and lay down next to her, pulling the blanket up to their shoulders.

"Sleep tight Angel" Haley whispered as Nathan rolled slightly in his sleep, subconsciously laying his arm over his daughter and Haley.

"Haley?" Maddie whispered sleepily

"Yeah sweetie?" Haley replied stroking Maddie's hair

"I like it when you're here"

Haley smiled down at the little girl, whose eyes were shut and body was snuggled into her own.

"I like it when I'm here too"

 **A/N: Chapter 12 done! I hope you all like it, I wanted to make sure I emphasised Nathan and Haley's relationship with Maddie so hopefully I did that! There will be a lot of stuff with Haley, Karen and Keith next chapter and some more fun Naley in Tree Hill – I'll try my hardest to make it a little longer next time as well. We'll also be hearing from the James' family soon as well!**

 **As always, please review and let me know what you think! Hope everyone enjoys their weekend (since it's 11:30 Friday night here! Woohoo!)**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	13. We're Going On A Trip

**A/N: I know it's been a while and I'm so sorry for that! Unfortunately school's been really hectic and I'm trying to keep up with everything but I've let a few things, like my writing, slip through the cracks. Luckily I finish this Friday and will be around to update more but I'm going overseas for two weeks so updates will not be frequent again up until January of 2016. I hope you like this chapter, it's a bit chopped and change but I wanted to show different scenes and people and it sets up for next chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **13\. We're Going On A Trip.**

*May 11th, 2010*

Nathan's eyes popped opened as he felt something hit his face. Turning his head he noticed Maddie's hand slide down from his face to his shoulder. Her head was turned the opposite direction and he could hear her lightly snoring. And that's when he saw Haley, with her arm wrapped around his daughter as Maddie snuggled her head against Haley's chest. He couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Hey" Nathan whispered reaching over to brush the hair out of Haley's face. Her eyes fluttered opened slowly and she smiled

"Good morning" she spoke hoarsely

"What's this little one doing here?" He looked down at his daughter in explanation

"She had a nightmare, and she said she normally sleeps with you when you're here, so I just thought it would help" Haley replied

"You could've woken me, I wouldn't have minded" He said

Haley looked from down to Maddie, avoiding Nathan's eyes "I didn't realise it would be a problem, I'm sorry"

Nathan frowned and reached his hand up to lift her chin so she was looking at him "I didn't mean it like that. I'm happy she was comfortable coming to you Haley. It means a lot to me that you're so open with her"

Haley smiled as she looked at the little girl "She's wonderful Nathan"

"I know" He smirked "I'm a lucky man"

"That you are" Haley agreed.

They both stayed wrapped up in each other's arms, with Maddie tucked between them. Haley could faintly hear people moving around outside and she snuck a glance at the clock behind Nathan on the bedside table. _9:07 am._

"We should probably wake her up, we need to eat and get her ready if we're going out" Haley said.

Nathan nodded and gently let go of Haley to reach down and gently shake his daughter.

"Maddie? It's time to get up Peanut" Nathan whispered again as Maddie opened her eyes.

Maddie frowned as she took in her surroundings, her Dad, Haley, the room. She smiled sheepishly and turned to tuck her face into Nathan's chest as a sudden shyness overtook her. Nathan chuckled and placed his hand on her back to rub up and down as Haley watched on.

"Did you have a bad dream peanut?" He asked softly as she shook her head "Are you okay now?"

"Haley made it better Daddy" He heard her whisper.

Maddie looked back and tried to secretly glance a peek at Haley, who simply smiled at the little girl. Maddie than shuffled up in Nathan's hold and pulled on his ear so he knew to bend down to her.

"I like her a lot Daddy, she's nice" Maddie whispered in her father's ear.

Nathan smiled at his daughter's word and kissed her forehead "I think so too bub"

* * *

*May 12th, 2010*

It had been another eventful day for Haley, Nathan and Maddie. The trio had done some more sight-seeing, as much as one could do in Tree Hill, and then headed to the local zoo. The zoo was definitely their favourite part of the day, Maddie had been so excited to feed all the animals and she watched in awe at the water shows the dolphins put on.

Haley walked tiredly through the hallways of the Scott house. It was now 11:30 at night and everyone was asleep, except she couldn't seem to fall asleep herself. Nathan had offered to go get her some tea but since Maddie was with them again in their bed, Haley had told him she would do it in case Maddie woke up and wanted Nathan.

She reached the kitchen and flicked on the lights, jumping out of her skin as she saw another person standing at the counter.

"Oh my god!" Haley said as she placed her hand over head racing heart "You scared me Karen"

Karen Scott smiled as she looked at the young woman "Sorry, I couldn't sleep. I always just sit here and drink a cup of tea. It usually helps"

Haley smiled, feeling calmer now "I was actually about to do the same thing" she replied as she reached for a cup and tea bag while Karen poured the hot water into her mug.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, sipping their tea, until Karen spoke.

"I never got the chance to tell you how happy I am that you're here Haley" She said earnestly

Haley smiled in response "I like it here in Tree Hill, and your whole family is just wonderful"

"You've been really good with Maddie too" Karen observed

"She makes it easy" Haley replied "She's such a wonderful little girl Karen"

"You know, I didn't think Nathan would find someone like you. ever. He was always so afraid to let his walls down and let someone in, even more so after Maddie was born. He wanted to protect her, and in his mind that meant being alone forever. I'm so thankful that you broke down his walls Haley. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see that boy so happy and in love" Karen said, feeling tears prick her eyes.

"I love him Karen, there's no need to thank me for that"

"I know. And I know I don't have to thank you, but I want to. Because you may not see it, but I just know. You're going to change his entire world. And I for one can't wait" And with that Karen got up and walked to her room, saying a quick goodnight to a slightly stumped Haley.

* * *

*May 14th, 2010*

"Haley James!" Lydia James' voice blared through the speaker of Haley's phone as she sat out on the front porch the next morning "You better have a good reason for not calling your mother for half her lifetime"

Haley rolled her eyes at her mother's over-dramatic flair "It's been three days mama, I was busy with Nathan and Maddie"

"I guess we can forgive it then" Lydia chuckled "How is everything in Tree Hill going? How's the Scott family?"

"They're all so kind and wonderful. You'd love Karen, she reminds me a lot of you"

"Well then, you'd better get us all together so I can meet this wonderful woman"

Haley laughed softly "Anyways, I was just calling to let you know that I'll be arriving in the airport by 5:30 tomorrow afternoon, so tell whoever is coming to get me please so I don't have to wait three hours like I did last time"

"I told you not to tell Brian your flight details. I love that boy but he's the most forgetful of all my children"

"You'd think he would've gotten better since he's gotta remember all those kids of his" Haley replied

"I don't know what to tell you Haley Bob. Men! They never change! I can tell you your father is a prime example of that"

" _What did I do know?_ " Jimmy James yelled in the background

Haley laughed as she heard her mother yell back something about not remembering to fix the shed like he promised, and how she'd be waiting until they were eighty years old for him to ever get it finished. She zoned out as her mother kept rambling on, until her father's voice jumped in

"So Bob, are you bringing this boy with you for us to meet?" Jimmy said "You know I can't approve the relationship until I meet him"

Haley groaned at her father's attempts at joking " I don't know Daddy, he's got his own kid here to look after. It's just not great timing"

"What's not great timing?" Nathan said as he walked onto the porch with Maddie in his arms, not realising that haley was on the phone.

"My dad wants you to come visit with me this week" Haley said as she pointed to the phone, turning it to loudspeaker.

"Tell him to come, and to bring that daughter of his too. She sounds wonderful from what you've told me. I'm sure we'll be able to make room"

"Are you sure Mr James?" Nathan said making his presence known

"Absolutely" Lydia butted in again "We look forward to seeing you three tomorrow. Bye Haley Bob, Bye Nathan!" she yelled before hanging up, not giving them the chance to decline.

"Looks like we're going on a trip" Nathan chuckled

* * *

 **A/N: Ok, so the ending was a bit abrupt but I'm not gonna lie, I kind of rushed it. I hope you like what I've written and I promise I will get the next chapter out ASAP since I finish school this week.**

 **As always please review and let me know what you think!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	14. The James Clan

**A/N: Hey lovely readers! Sadly this will be the last chapter for a couple weeks since I am flying to India tomorrow morning and may not have wifi connection. I will be back on the 9th and will definitely be writing on the plane and stuff so I promise I will update the minute I can. In case i don't update beforehand, I hope you all have a happy new year and enjoy 2016! Thank you for your support since I started writing, it has meant a lot.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **14\. The James Clan**

*May 15th, 2010*

"Are you sure about this?" Haley said as she stood in the baggage area of the Chicago *May Domestic Airport, while Nathan grabbed their luggage, and Haley held a sleeping Maddie in her arms "It's not too late to turn back" she half-joked.

Nathan looked at her with a dead-panned look on his face "Hales quit it. We're going"

"But they're so annoying" She whined

"I guess it runs in the family then" He joked

"I love them, I really do, but they can't mind their own damn business. And they make the most inappropriate jokes, and Taylor will flirt with anything that moves. The first time I brought a boy to the house, he ended up ditching me five minutes in to follow Taylor around" Haley exclaimed as they walked through the doors and out into the arrivals section.

Nathan grabbed her hand and kissed it as she walked next to him "I promise, the only James girl I'll be with this weekend is you"

Haley smiled at his gesture and his words "I'm sorry. I know I'm being overdramatic, but at the same time I'm serious. My family is insane Nathan, we're not going to get a minute of peace"

"It's nice that they're close though. My family was never like that, my parents didn't give a rat's ass about me" He shrugged

Haley stopped and tugged on his hand gently, causing him to halt with the trolley of luggage to look back at her.

"It's their loss Nathan. And trust me, my mother will more than make up for your childhood years" she tried to joke in hopes of lightening the sour mood their conversation had taken "She'll smother in love and affection you to the point of suffocation. Just don't be surprised when she gets intrusive. She'll let you fall into this false sense of security, then sneak-attack. She's like a ninja"

Nathan chuckled at the analogy "A ninja? Of all the things I can imagine your mother being, a ninja ain't one. You have to have some sort of coordination for that"

"Hey!" Haley exclaimed "I am not that un-coordinated!"

"Babe, you fell off the bed last week trying to tie your hair" He laughed "Coordination and you do not go together" he kissed her nose as she pouted before grabbing her hand again and continuing to walk out of the airport.

"HALEY JAMES!" Haley whipped her head to the direction of her mother's voice and groaned. Not only was her mum there, but her dad, Brian, Taylor and Vivian had all decided to join the trip. To top it off her mother had decided this trip would be the one to finally pull through on her promise to Haley to be a 'normal, embarrassing mother at the airport' and bring a whole bunch of _We Missed You_ and _Welcome Home_ balloons.

Nathan smiled as Lydia basically sprinted towards her daughter and catapulted herself into her daughter's embrace. Haley groaned at the impact of her mother's hug and let her mother sway her vigorously from side to side as she squeezed her body.

"Mama" Haley breathed out "I need air"

"Sorry" Lydia giggle before letting go of her daughter and turning to look at Nathan, who had taken Maddie off Haley before Lydia hugged her "And this must be Nathan"

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. James" Nathan spoke politely as he stuck out his hand to greet the woman

"Nonsense!" Lydia exclaimed as she bypassed Nathan's hand and hugged both him and Maddie as best she could, taking Nathan by complete surprise "Haley's finally brought a man home the least I can do is hug you for willing to put your sanity at risk! and call me Lydia please. Mrs James is my mother-in-law"

"Well, thank you for having me and Maddie this week, Lydia" he emphasised her name and smiled "I really appreciate it"

Lydia smiled and looked at the sleeping girl with her arms latched around Nathan's neck "Of course, it's our pleasure. She's a very beautiful little girl Nathan"

"Thank you"

"Well well, the prodigal daughter returns" Jimmy James joked as he pulled his daughter into a hug

Haley rolled her eyes as she accepted the embrace "It hasn't been that long Dad"

"almost a year Haley Bob, that is too long without seeing my baby girl" he said pulling back from her

"Well I wold've been here sooner if you and mama hadn't all of a sudden decided Wilmington wasn't good enough and instead moved to Chicago to enjoy retirement" She rebutted

Jimmy chuckled at his daughter "Always the debater Haley Bob" he shook his head as he stuck his hand out to Nathan

"Jimmy James" he introduced as Nathan repositioned Maddie and quickly shook the man's hand

"Nathan Scott"

"That's a firm handshake son" Jimmy noted looking at Haley "The kids got a good handshake Bob"

"I'm glad you approve Daddy" She replied sarcastically

They all walked back to the two cars the James family had brought and greeted Brian, Vivian and Taylor before settling into the car and heading back to the James residence.

* * *

*May 16th, 2010*

Nathan smiled as he sat on the couch next to Haley. Everyone had arrived yesterday night, and The James family were now all spread out in the living room, and Maddie was playing contently with Brian and his wife Alyssa's child Jimmy Junior, and Vivian and her husband Michael's twins Avery and Sammy. Maddie was normally very shy in situations where she was surrounded by new people, so Nathan was surprised when she agreed to play with the three James boys, and help Lydia make her 'special holiday cookies'. He was glad that she was fitting in and felt comfortable around the family.

He loved the whole atmosphere that was created by the James family. They were all extremely loud and incredibly fast speakers, and it seemed like their was about fifty different conversations going on at once, and yet somehow everyone understood one another and could respond to each person. Nathan especially loved how caring and involved Jimmy and Lydia were in their children's lives. They knew everything that was gong on and had been going on in every aspect of each child's life. He felt like he was finally seeing what his family could have been like, and he was glad that he was able to show Maddie what a family truly was.

"Hey" Haley whispered as she leaned into him "Are you okay?"

Nathan nodded as he kissed the top of her head "Just watching. You're family's pretty great Hales"

"We're a special bunch, that's for sure" she chuckled

"I love being here, It feels so safe and loving. Exactly how a family should be"

"well you're welcome anytime Babe" she said kissing his lips softly.

Their moment didn't last long however, as Haley felt a bump against the back of her head, causing her to whack into Nathan and bite his lip.

"Ow" he muttered as they pulled apart

"Dammit Quinny!" Haley yelled as she turned to see her sister standing behind her, with a pillow in hand.

"Quit the PDA would you? Save all that for the bedroom" she winked as Haley and Nathan both blushed

"Yeah Haley, we need to have a nice discussion later about all that" Taylor smirked indicated towards Nathan and his body

"Oh my god" Haley groaned as she felt herself blush harder. She buried her face in Nathan's chest as he tried to hold in his laughter.

"You might as well have your cake and eat it too"

"MAMA!" She heard Haley exclaim, while Brian, Liam and Josh groaned at Lydia's slightly crude statement

"Hey, I speak the truth" Lydia shrugged as Vivian, Taylor and Quinn all nodded in agreement

"You're unbelievable. It's a wonder I turned out normal with this family" Haley rolled her eyes

"And who said you were normal?" Nathan joked, earning a round of laughter from Haley's family

Haley slapped his chest and pouted dramatically "You're mean. You're supposed to be on my side, not encouraging their antics"

Nathan chuckled softly and kissed her lips gently "I'm sorry baby"

Haley smiled as she looked up at him "I guess I can let it go" she whispered quickly kissing him once more

"We both know it's true though" he quickly added in as everyone laughed.

"I like this one" Lydia laughed pointing at Nathan "You better keep him around Bob"

Haley smiled at her mother as she replied "Oh I definitely plan to"

* * *

 **A/N: I know it wasn't the best, but I wanted to introduce the James family so that we can delve a little more into Haley's family and James and Damien while they're in Chicago! The distance may not really be correct since Tree Hill is technically Wilmington, but it's fanfiction... Anything is possible!**

 **As always, please leave me a review and let me know what you thought!**

 **Hope you all have a great week and last few days of 2015!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	15. Unexpected Problems

**A/N: So, I got a PM a couple weeks ago asking about Maddie's mother and where she is. I'm excited to say you will be learning more about that next chapter! I hope you all like what I did with this chapter. There's a bit of a time jump in between this chapter and the next but it's only because I feel like this story is dragging along a while otherwise.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **15\. Unexpected Problems**

*May 18th, 2010*

"So, tell us about your boytoy Hales" Taylor smirked at Haley as the women of the James family sat in the kitchen talking. Quinn, Taylor, Alyssa and Vivian all sat at the table in the kitchen area Haley and Lydia cleaned the dishes

"God you sound like Brooke" Haley said as she passed her mum the dishes to dry

"Come on Bob" Lydia urged as she bumped hips with her daughter

"Fine" Haley sighed "What do you wanna know?" She said as Haley and Lydia sat on the stools at the breakfast bar across from the table, turning to face the other women

"How is he in bed?" Taylor raised her eyebrows suggestively

"Taylor!" Haley flushed red "God you don't want do you?"

"Oh come on, we're all curios to know" Alyssa chimed in

Haley covered her face with her hands "He's amazing" she mumbled through her fingers

"What was that?" Lydia nudged Haley's side chuckling

"He's amazing, okay!?" Haley burst out. Her eyes widened as she realised what she had said and buried her face in the shoulder of her chuckling mother.

"Amazing huh?" Quinn chuckled along with everyone else

"Mama" Haley whined "you're supposed to stop them all from ganging up on me, not encourage them"

Lydia kissed the top of Haley's head "Sorry Bob, I'm enjoying this too much"

"But in all seriousness, he is treating you right isn't he?" Quinn asked after the laughter had settled down

"Yes. He's wonderful Quinny, really. I've never felt this way before" Haley replied

"I can tell" Taylor smiled "We're happy for you Hales"

"Just be careful okay? It's not just you and Nathan to consider in this, He's got a daughter to protect in all this as well"

"I know" Haley frowned "I promise, we're being careful"

"That's all I need to hear" Lydia nodded "I like him though Bob, you got yourself a good one here"

"I know" Haley whispered "It's so different than how it was with Justin mama. Nathan, he really cares about me. I love him so much"

"He loves you too Haley, believe that" Lydia said looking her daughter in the eyes.

Haley simply nodded before hugging Lydia tightly.

* * *

"Haley?" Maddie whispered as she entered the living room later that day

Nathan turned his gaze from the TV where he sat with Jimmy. Brian, Liam and Josh had all taken the boys out to the Rivercourt, Maddie wasn't feeling well and had stayed at home with Nathan and Haley.

"Hey Sweet Girl" Nathan said as Maddie walked over to him, clinging to her teddy bear "You feeling any better?"

Maddie crawled up onto her dad's lap and snuggled close to him, as Nathan rubbed her back gently, holding her close to him  
"My tummy hurts, Daddy" Maddie murmured against his chest.

"I know sweetie, Haley went to get you some more medicine, it should help okay?" Nathan spoke softly "Go to sleep honey, I got you"

Jimmy watched Nathan in admiration. For someone so young, he was such a loving father "You're doing pretty damn well you know?" Jimmy said softly.

Nathan looked up, frowning at the older man's statement  
"It takes a hell of a lot of guts to raise a child at your age. It's admirable"

Nathan smiled as he looked at Jimmy "She's about the best thing that ever happened to me"

Jimmy smiled "So, what are your intentions with my daughter?"

Nathan looked at him, shocked for a spilt moment "Excuse me?" he spluttered

"You heard me" Jimmy smirked

"Uh, I love her" Nathan started "Honestly, I don't know where we're going with this, but I do know I see a future for us in the long run"

Jimmy nodded "You better not hurt her. She's my baby, and I raise four sons to protect her"

"I'd give my life before I ever hurt her" Nathan said. Jimmy simply patted him on the shoulder before resuming to watch the game on the TV. Nathan smiled to himself, feeling like he just got some sort of approval from Haley's father.

* * *

*May 25th, 2010*

"So, Maddie's birthday is in two weeks" Nathan started as they sat in his living room back on campus "She wanted to come down here, spend time with us for her birthday. Is that ok?"

Haley frowned "Of course it's okay. Nathan, she's your daughter, and I care about her"

Nathan smiled "I love you, you know that?" He said as he leaned in closer to her

Haley smirked "I guess I kinda like you too"

"Oh yeah? Just kinda like?" He said leaning in closer, his lips just brushing Haley's

"Maybe a little more than like" Haley said kissing him fully. They both let themselves go, their tongues brushing against the others, hands roaming everywhere. They pulled apart only when air became an issue, pressing their foreheads against the others while regaining their breath.

"I should get home" Haley breathed out after a moment "Brooke's been wanting a full recap of what happened during our break"

Nathan groaned as Haley pulled away from him "Can't she wait one more day? I want you all to myself"

Haley chuckled "Nathan, we've been shacked up here for the past couple days since we got back from Chicago. If I don't go back to my room, she's going to barge in here and drag me back with her"

Nathan sighed, standing up and following Haley to the front door "okay, but tomorrow you and I are going on a date night"

Haley smirked, wrapping her arms around Nathan's neck "that sounds nice" she leaned in to kiss him again more forcefully.

Nathan was the one to pull back this time "Ok, now you really have to go before I pull you into my room" he winked

Haley chuckled and quickly pecked his lips once more "ok, I'll see you tomorrow. Date night" she said before exiting the dorm.

Nathan smiled as he walked to the fridge to grab a beer. He leaned against the counter, recapping the past couple weeks with Haley and Maddie and both their families. He was happy about how they were progressing. Maddie was growing attached to Haley and Haley to Maddie, they were quickly becoming the family he had always envisioned for his daughter.

Nathan's thoughts were disrupted by a knocking on the door. Looking at his watch, he noticed it had only been a few minutes since Haley had left. He smirked to himself, they were both so hooked.

"Miss me already?" Nathan smiled as he opened the door, stopping short at the person standing in front of him.

"Hi Nathan"

Nathan looked at the woman shocked "Sarah"

 **A/N: And there's chapter 15! I hope you all liked this, I feel like I had left Sarah as a bit of a loose end in terms of Maddie's childhood and her past with Nathan, and I did say from the beginning this story would have some drama!**

 **As usual, please review and let me know what you thought, and what you think will happen or would like to see happen with Nathan and Haley and the whole Sarah situation.**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	16. She's All I Have

**A/N:** **Ok, so this took a lot longer than I thought it would! I had a bit of a rude guest reviewer on one of my stories and it threw me in a bit of a funk, and I feel like this isn't my best work ever, but I hope you still like it either ways.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **16\. She's All I Have**

*June 2nd, 2010*

Haley sighed as she watched Nathan move around the backyard of Karen's house. Ever since Sarah's reappearance, he had been completely unfocused, spending all his time between Maddie, Haley and his family lawyer. She walked into Maddie's bedroom, smiling as she saw her and Lily sleeping head to toe in Maddie's basketball themed bed, thinking back to her conversation with Nathan, Karen and Keith the day before

...

 _"Nathan, you can't be serious right now" Haley said sitting on the couch in the living room of Karen's Granny-Flat. She had cleaned the space up so Haley and Nathan could stay there when they were visiting since Nathan's old room wasn't big enough._

 _"I don't know if I have another choice Hales. He might be the only one who can help me here"_

 _"Your Dad?" Keith said, standing with Karen in the 'living room' area "Can we really trust him?"_

 _"He's still my Dad, and your brother. I don't know, but I can't face Sarah on my own. He has contacts, someone who can find out why she's here, and where's she's been these past four years"_

 _"Dan Scott is not someone who does favours that prove no benefit to him" Karen scoffed_

 _"Well unless any of you have an idea, we're screwed!" Nathan snapped looking at his aunt_

 _"Nathan" Haley jumped up, grabbing his arm "look, whatever you do, we'll support you. Just, really think this through before you make a choice"_

 _Nathan took a deep breath, calming himself down. He looked towards Karen and Keith "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I just -" Nathan looked to the ground "I can't lose my daughter"_

 _"We know" Karen soothed as Haley hugged Nathan "And we'll figure something out. Let's just see what the lawyer has to say before we resort to Dan Scott, ok?"_

 _Nathan sighed, nodding his head in agreement._

...

Nathan grunted as he pounded the nails into the wood of the cubby-house. Keith had mentioned when they arrived last month for their visit that the girls cubby-house was getting old, and needed some work done. Nathan decided today was the perfect time to do said task, it was the perfect opportunity to take his mind off of things.

However, the harder he focused on the task at hand, the more his mind seemed to want to replay his conversation with Sarah.

...

 _"What the hell do you want?" Nathan growled._

 _"It's nice to see you too" Sarah chuckled sarcastically, tucking her platinum blonde hair behind her ear. Nathan took in her appearance, she had changed a lot since he last saw her. Her hair had gone multiple shades lighter, and blonder, her eyes were darkened from the amount of makeup she had on, she had grown a lot taller and skinnier. But she still somehow looked like the same, washed-up, drugged-up girl he once thought he loved._

 _Sarah shrugged as she looked at Nathan "I missed you"_

 _Nathan scoffed "After almost four years? Now you decide to come and win me back, is that it?"_

 _"Look, I know that some stuff went down when I left-"_

 _"You were taking drugs and alcohols while pregnant with our daughter. I wouldn't define that as 'some stuff' Sarah" Nathan coudl feel his anger bursting through_

 _Sarah rolled her eyes "look, it's in the past now, you gave her up, and -"_

 _"I didn't give her up" Nathan spoke_

 _"What!? Why didn't anyone tell me!?" Sarah screamed_

 _"You left her! You signed away your rights! I didn't have to tell you MY decisions regarding MY daughter!" he yelled back_

 _Sarah looked down to the ground, taking a breath, regrouping. This is not how she had planned this, and then it hit her. She looked back up at Nathan with a smirk on her face "Well, I want to see her"_

 _"No" Nathan immediately said "You gave her up, and you didn't even know she was with me until about five seconds ago. You're hiding something else, what do you want!?"_

 _Sarah looked Nathan right in the eyes "I want my daughter"_

 _"Well you're not getting her! Leave us the hell alone, do you hear me!?" Nathan screamed before slamming the door shut in Sarah's face._

 _..._

He couldn't stop thinking about their altercation. Maddie wasn't the end goal. He knew Sarah, she wanted something else. She had sought him out for a reason, and it wasn't because she had sudden;y grown a conscience regarding her daughter. She wanted Maddie to gain leverage over Nathan, If Sarah had Maddie Nathan would do whatever it took to get her back, and he knew that Sarah knew that fact.

He gripped the hammer tighter and slammed it into the wood, jumping back as the splinters flying off the now broken material. Nathan screamed as he flung the tool in to the shed, kicking and punching the wood, needing a release.

 _I can't lose her._ Punch

 _She's all I have._ Punch

 _She's MY daughter._ Kick

He kept going like this, thinking all the thoughts that he so desperately wanted to scream, punching and kicking as he went, until he couldn't go any longer.

"Nathan" he swung around at the sound of her soft, pained voice. He could see the fear, the concern in her eyes.

Haley watched as Nathan dropped to his knees, his head falling into his hands as he cried. Her heart broke at the sight, he had been keeping everything in for the past week. Everything he was feeling, thinking. He was holding it inside of him, carrying all that weight on his shoulders.

She carefully walked over and sat down in front of Nathan, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's shoulders as he shook against her.

"It's okay, let it out" She whispered rubbing one hand up and down the length of his back "I've got you"

They stayed that way for a few minutes, the surrounding area silent other than Nathan's cries

"I can't lose her" he choked out "She's all I have. She's all I have!"

Haley wrapped her arms around him tighter, feeling her own tears surface at the sight of her strong, beautiful, caring, loving boyfriend, looking absolutely broken. After a few more minutes Nathan's cries had subsided. Haley slowly stood up, pulling Nathan with him, and guiding them both to their flat in the backyard.

They walked in, and Haley led him towards their bed, making him lay down and rest. He had spent the better half of the last week pacing the floor in front of their bed, or staring at the ceiling all night long.

"You need to rest" She whispered, kissing his forehead before moving towards the couch to watch TV, but Nathan grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Stay" he croaked out, his voice weak from the crying "Please"

Haley nodded, and quietly moved to the other side of the bed, laying down on top of the blankets and resting her head in the crook of Nathan's outstretched arm, laying her hand on his chest right over his heart.

"I don't know how, but this will all work out" she whispered into the silence "I know it will. We won't lose her, we won't let it happen"

She felt Nathan nod, and then the brush of his lips against the top of her head "I love you" he whispered

Haley smiled. It was the first time since all this mess started, that he had said that. That they had a moment to themselves to talk about it all. She lifted her head to kiss his cheek mumbling her reply

"I love you too"

* * *

 _"Why would he keep her?" the voice asked through the phone._

"Hell If I know" Sarah scoffed "All I know, is she's the way to getting to Nathan"

 _"Are you sure you want to use your own daughter like that?"_

"She's not my daughter, she never was" Sarah said sitting on the bed in motel near Duke "Listen baby, Nathan will do whatever he can to make sure that I never come anywhere near his daughter. I'll get us what we need easily"

 _"How? You don't even know your own daughter's name!"_

"It's Maddie!" Another voice yelled through the room

 _"Who is that?"_

Sarah smiled "Oh, just a friend I've made here at Duke. She seems to know a lot about Nathan and Maddie. And even that little tramp he's running around with now, what did you say her name was?"

Rachel smirked as she sat down next to Sarah "Haley James"

 **A/N: So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This stuff with Sarah won't last too long, but I've kind of went off plan with this part of the story as I got a PM asking for some drama involving Maddie's birth mother. So now that I'm doing this storyline, it's going to make the story longer and it'll take me some time to get back onto my plan, which means it could take some time between the next few updates while I figure out how all this Sarah mess will go down.**

 **As always, please leave a review and let me know what you liked/dislike or if there's anything you'd like to see happen!**

 **Hope you're all enjoying your week!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	17. We're In This Together

**A/N: Hey! thanks for all your lovely reviews and PM's that some of you sent me, they not only made my day but they definitely helped get me out of my writer's block so thank you :) I hope you guys like how this chapter goes, there won't be too much drama, but just you wait it's coming...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **17\. We're In This Together.**

*June 5th, 2010*

Nathan stared at the ceiling. He had been awake for the past half an hour, but he didn't want to move. He could feel Maddie wiggling against his side while she slept, he could feel Haley's are wrapped around his baby girl and her hand resting against his waist. He was perfectly happy to stay in this state of contentment; where none of the shit from reality had come into existence yet. He just wanted to lay here all day, and pretend nothing ever changed.

"Hey" Haley whispered brushing her hand up against his cheek, forcing him to look at her.

"Hey" he smiled, bringing his hand up to rest against hers.

"How long have you been up?" She said, eyeing the clock reading _11:00am_.

Nathan shrugged "not long. Just thinking about everything"

"about what?"

"Everything"

Haley smiled sadly "Well, I thought today we could have a day off"

Nathan frowned "A day off from what?"

"All the crap" she stated "We're going to take Maddie around Tree Hill, spend the day with her. And then tonight, you and I are going to spend some time together. Karen already said she'd look after Maddie for us"

"You just think of everything don't you?" he smiled as Haley shrugged "that sounds wonderful, thank you Haley"

Haley smiled "I'd do anything for the two of you"

"I know. We're lucky to have you"

"I'm lucky to have you too" he smiled "Now let's wake this munchkin up and get ready for the day" he said motioning to his still sleeping daughter between them.

* * *

"Be careful!" Nathan chuckled as he glided along the ice.

Today has been perfect. He and Haley had taken Maddie out to the cafe for lunch. Lucas had surprised the couple when they first visited Tree Hill by rebuilding the old golf course he and Haley used to have on the roof of the cafe before Haley moved away, so Haley, Nathan and Maddie played a few rounds of mini golf for two hours with Maddie winning most of the games (thanks to a few 'bad shots' from the two teens) and the trio then headed to the Rivercourt for until the sunset, teaching Maddie how to dribble without whacking the ball on her feet, and Nathan teaching Haley how to throw a proper free-throw instead of the granny shots she would normally pull.

And now here they were, spending their last hour together at the ice skating rink in the city area of Tree Hill. Nathan smiled as he watched Haley help Maddie slowly move around the ice rink, with Nathan promising to follow behind them just in case - in Maddie's words - Haley should trip and make Maddie fall over on the ice.

He watched in awe at how caring and gentle Haley was, encouraging Maddie as she shuffled her ice skates along the iced surface clinging to Haley's hands for dear life. She would make the perfect mother one day, he just knew it. And even more, he knew that one day he wanted Haley James to be the mother of his children.

"Daddy look!" Maddie screamed pulling Nathan out of his daydream. He gave her a big smile and wide-eyed look as she held her hands in the arm, a very proud smile on her face at having been able to ice skate on her own. The moment didn't last very long before Maddie's legs started to shake and she quickly wrapped her arms around Haley's waist in a panic, scared of falling.  
Haley smiled down at the little girl, carefully prying her arms from her waist and holding one of her hands, calling Nathan forward to take Maddie's other hand.

They stayed like that for a while, skating side by side with Maddie in between them. They joined in the limbo that was going on in the middle of the ice rink, and did the race around the rink when announced. Maddie was the happiest Nathan had seen her in a long time, and he knew that was thanks to Haley.  
He could see his daughter's eye struggle to stay open as she began to lean in to her dad's side.

"What do you say we go home munchkin?" He asked as she nodded slightly against him. Nathan smiled up at Haley as the two made their way to the exit of the rink, Nathan lifting Maddie into his arms the minute they were off the ice. Maddie wrapped her arms around her Daddy's neck tiredly and sighed in content at the opportunity to rest.

Haley quickly sat down with Nathan and pulled off her skates, undoing the laces on Nathan's skates so he could kick his off and slip on his converse, while Haley carefully undid Maddie's laces and slowly pulled the skates off the little girls feet.

"We should get her home" Haley whispered as Nathan nodded.

Nathan reached out and took Haley's hand with one hand, holding Maddie with the other hand; his arm wrapped around her tightly.  
They walked through the town, past the cafe, the record store, the party shop. Haley smiled as she looked through the town.

'It's so beautiful here" she said as she leaned her head against Nathan's shoulder as they walked

"You know, I always wanted to move back here" Nathan said "I always thought after college, I'd play professionally for a few years, and then Maddie and I would move back to Tree Hill. She could go to high school here, play on the Rivercourt, all the experiences Lucas, Brooke, Peyton and I had growing up"

"That sounds nice" Haley smiled "have you talked to Clay recently?"

"He found some prospects all around. New York, Chicago, but we've got our eye on Charlotte"

"Why Charlotte?" she asked as they approached their house

"It's the closest to Tree Hill, and you" he said shyly "You'll still be doing your masters degree for a year after I graduate"

Haley looked up at Nathan in shock "You're factoring me into your decision on where to play basketball?"

Nathan frowned "of course I would. Look, I know we haven't been together long, but I know that I want to be with you Haley, for as long as you'll have me"

"I'd have you forever if it was up to me" she smiled kissing him softly "we should get her to bed" Haley indicated towards Maddie

Nathan nodded as Haley opened the front door to the house, Nathan following behind as they walked to Maddie's room.

Nathan gently laid Maddie down, as she began to stir.

"Daddy?" Maddie groaned, confused at where she was

"Shhh, you're okay sweetie, go to sleep" he soothed, gently taking off her jacket, beanie and sneakers.

"Where's Haley?" Maddie whispered

"I'm here Mads" Haley whispered sitting next to the girl on her bed, running her hand through the little girl's hair gently.

"Haley?" Maddie whispered shyly "Can you sing to me?"

Haley frowned as she looked at Nathan, who shrugged, just as surprised as she was.

"All my friends say their mum's sing to them"

Haley smiled sadly, feeling tears prick her eyes as she looked back down at Maddie "Of course I can honey"

Nathan leaned against the desk in Maddie's room, watching as Haley held his daughter tight and softly sang to her.

 _Oh the quiet child awaits the day when she can break free  
From all that clings like desperation  
Oh Mother don't you see I've got,  
to live my life the way I feel is, right for me.  
You say it's not right for you, but it's right for me_

 _I believe._

Haley sang until she could hear Maddie's breathing even out. She looked up at Nathan and felt a blush rise to her face when she saw him slowly and softly clap. Haley got up from the bed and walked over to the doorway as Nathan wrapped his arms around her.

"I didn't know you could sing like that" he whispered in awe

"I don't normally sing for people, but I couldn't refuse that face" she chuckled

"What do you say we have our date night in?" Nathan asked

Haley smiled "as long as you're there with me, I'm happy"

* * *

"So, I was thinking about Dan" Nathan said as he and Haley washed the dishes from their dinner.

"did you make a decision?"

"I'm not going to call him. I've gotten this far without him in my life. And inviting him back into our lives is just asking for trouble"

They were silent for a few moments before Haley spoke "You know I'm here for you right, with everything that's going on with Maddie, and Sarah. I just want you to know, you and me, we're in this together"

"I know, Thank you. I love you" he said kissing her hairline as she leaned into him

"I love you too"

Nathan smiled as Haley turned the tap off "Well that's all done" she smiled

Nathan put the last of the dishes away and turned to Haley, licking his lips as he took her in. She was wearing washed out denim jeans with massive rips in the knees, and a purple tee. Her hair was in a bun and her makeup was gone, but Nathan still thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd seen.

"What?" Haley said as Nathan stared at her

"You're beautiful" he said walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist

"And you're sweet" She smiled latching her arms around his neck. Nathan leaned in and kissed her softly. He was about to pull back when he felt Haley push herself into him more, demanding he not stop. She ran her tongue along his lip, seeking entrance which he so happily granted. Nathan's hands travelled up her back under her shirt, his fingers playing with the clasp of her bra. they pulled back when the need for air arose.

"I think we've done enough talking for tonight" Nathan breathed out

Haley bit her lip, nodding at his words as Nathan lifted her off the ground and placed her on the kitchen counter, her legs wrapping around his waist as they resumed their kiss...

* * *

 **A/N: OK! so there's chapter 17! I don't think we've got much of this story left, I'm thinking of stopping at around the 25 chapter mark. Hope you all liked this, as always leave a review and let me know what you thought! Sarah will be making another appearance and next chapter...Maddie's Birthday!**

 **Hope you're all enjoying your week**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	18. Happy Birthday To You

**A/N: I am so sorry this took so long! I've been so busy with school and work just kept getting piled on and I was so tired I kind of forgot about my writing! Hope everyone's had a good couple weeks since I was last on.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **18\. Happy Birthday To You...**

*June 12th, 2010*

Haley smiled as she cut up the cake in Karen's kitchen. Today was Maddie's 4th birthday, and Nathan was outside playing with his little girl and all her friends.

It had been a wonderful day. Haley and Nathan had breakfast with Maddie at the cafe - a special tradition of Nathan and Maddie's since for both their birthday's - and Nathan and Maddie had then gone to spend some time together at the rivercourt while Karen and Haley set up for the party. All of Maddie's friends had come, as well as Lucas, Brooke, Peyton and Jake, to celebrate Maddie's birthday with her.

"Hey" Keith smiled as he entered the kitchen "How you doing?"

Haley shrugged as she placed the individual slices on paper plates and onto a tray to take out to the kids "Good, she looks so happy" Haley smiled looking out the window at Nathan as he picked up Maddie and spun her around as she giggled.

"He's such a wonderful father" Keith said as he looked at the father and daughter as well.

"I better get these out to the kids before they come attack me" Haley laughed as she picked up the tray and walked outside.

Haley watched in amusement as all the kids ran up to her and snatched up all the plates of cake. She smiled as Nathan walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist as she leaned into him.

"You did a good job decorating this place" Nathan praised as he kissed Haley's cheek.

"It was actually a lot of fun" Haley chuckled lightly setting the tray down on the table next to them and wrapping her hands around Nathan's neck "But Karen was a lot of help too"

"I already thanked her though" Nathan smiled kissing her cheek again "I didn't get to say thanks to you. Not just for today, but every other day too"

Haley smiled as she pulled Nathan to her, hugging him tightly. They stayed like that for a few minutes until they each felt a hand slap their leg. Nathan chuckled as they pulled apart and looked down to see Maddie.

"Daddy, you promised you'd do the aeroplane!" Maddie whined as she pulled on her father's hand

Nathan smiled picking up his daughter and kissing her cheek "Alright, let's go show your friends the aeroplane"

Haley watched as they both ran off to the grass area where all of Maddie's friends were playing. She saw Karen began to clean up the dishes, but quickly stopped the woman and told her she would do it so that Karen could sit and relax with Keith after having cooked for the party.

Haley had just finished loading the dishwasher when she heard a knock on the door. She frowned as she looked at the clock, none of the parents would be coming for another hour. She quickly walked over to the front door and opened it, coming face to face with the last person she expected to see.

"Can I help you?" Haley said glaring at the woman

"I'd like to see my daughter. It is her birthday after all" Sarah smiled tightly as she looked Haley in the eye.

Haley had only seen Sarah from the photos in Nathan's old yearbook, but she had to admit she was very beautiful, except for the dark circles under her puffy red eyes. Haley knew better than to believe that this girl wasn't still on drugs.

"It's a closed party, family only" Haley said crossing her arms over her chest as she stood in the small space where the door was open.

"I'm her mother" Sarah retorted

"You didn't even know where she was up until a month ago. What do you really want?" Haley asked

Sarah watched her silently for a moment, contemplating her options. She sighed before she answered "I don't know what you're talking about"

Haley scoffed "You want something from Nathan. You and I both know that you didn't come back into town because you wanted to reconnect with your daughter, although if you ask me it's your loss"

"I didn't" Sarah snapped "I love my daughter"

Haley looked into her eyes and could see that she didn't mean a word of what she was saying "You don't even know her. Let me tell you something, that little girl is amazing. She's so bright and caring and funny and she's the most perfect child anyone could ever ask for. And I will never be able to comprehend why or how you left her. But I will tell you this now, this isn't your family. They are mine however, and I'm telling you to stay away from Nathan, and you stay the hell away from Maddie! Otherwise you and I are going to have a problem"

"You think I'm scared of you?" Sarah said stepping closer to Haley, so they were almost nose to nose "You're not her mother"

"Neither are you" Haley whispered, her voice void of any emotions "Stay the hell away from Maddie and Nathan. Stop causing them all this pain"

"I'll leave once I get what I want from Nathan" Sarah sneered

"So there is something else, isn't there?" Haley said as the pieces started to fall into place "You want Maddie. Because you know, that Nathan will do whatever it takes to get his daughter back. And you want to use that against him"

Sarah simply shrugged in response as she stepped back, looking down to the floor.

Haley scoffed, her fists balling together tightly as she held in the urge to punch the girl standing in front of her "You're unbelievable" Haley said as she stepped back into the apartment "Stay the hell away from my family" and with that she shut the door in her face

Haley closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to collect herself before she turned to go back to the kitchen and finish cleaning, stopping short when she saw Nathan standing a few feet behind her.

"I was just coming to get some water" He explained lamely

Haley nodded, standing awkwardly at the door "Did you -"

"Yeah, I hear" Nathan cut in "Did you really mean that?"

Haley frowned as she met his gaze "Mean what?"

"That we're your family"

Haley smiled as she nodded her head "Of course I did Nathan. You and Maddie, You've become such a big part of my life. And I love you both so much, I'm so blessed to have you both"

Nathan strode towards her and placed both his hands on the sides of her face, kissing her hard. Haley moaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck, revelling in the feeling of his lips against hers. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, completely lost in the moment.

"Uhhh guys?" Lucas spoke awkwardly, watching as the couple broke apart and turned to look at him sheepishly "Hate to break up the moment, but I have a very antsy niece waiting for her Dad and Haley to come open the presents with her"

Nathan chuckled, scratching the back of his neck in discomfort of the situation "We'll be out in a second" Lucas simply nodded and walked back out onto the veranda

Nathan turned to look at Haley again, giving her a quick kiss "Just so you know, Maddie and I are pretty damn lucky to have you too" he smiled

"I love you" haley smiled

"I love you too" he said taking her hand in his "Now, let's go open some presents" he began to walk towards the doors

"Nathan" Haley said pulling against his hand, causing him to stop to look back at her "We need to talk about Sarah later"

Nathan nodded in understanding "I know, but let's just enjoy today, ok?"

Haley smiled and nodded, letting Nathan lead her out to the backyard where Maddie waited.

 **A/N: Sorry this is a lot shorter and has less content than normal, but I wanted a bit of a Haley and Sarah meet-thing before everything starts to fall into place. Plus, Haley is now sure that Sarah is here for a different reason than to get Maddie back.**

 **Everything will reveal itself soon ..**

 **As always please leave a review let me know what you thought and if you've got any ideas you want to see happen or anything :)**

 **Have a great rest of the week and Weekend!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	19. Making things Right

**A/N: Hey, so I'm back a lot sooner than I normally have been, thanks to Naley12 for the push and encouragement to finish this and to ImpalaChick1967 for her wonderful PM's (PS: Check out both these writers stories!)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **19\. Making things Right.**

*June 15th, 2010*

Nathan sighed as he looked at the papers in his hand. The court had finally sent the order for him and Sarah's court date. He had a week before their custody battle went to court, and he was dreading every second of the time between then and now. He wished he was back in Tree Hill with Haley and Maddie by his side, nothing else in the world to worry about.

"Hey" Haley said as she rolled over in bed, reaching her hand up to rest on Nathan's shoulder as he sat facing away from her "You're gonna burn a hole in the paper if you keep staring at it" she tried to joke.

"I just don't get it Haley" he whispered "She wants something from me. And it's not my daughter. I know it has to be something big because she's determined to use Maddie as leverage to get it"

Haley sat up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind, kissing his cheek gently as she whispered in his ear "I don't know babe. But we'll figure it out. We've still got some time okay?"

Nathan nodded, dropping the papers onto the bedside table and laying down next to Haley once more, his mind not able to divert from the thought of those papers as his eyes drifted close.

* * *

Haley woke several hours later to a banging on the door. She groggily walked to the front door, trying to move as fast as her tired feet would let her so that Nathan would't wake

"I'm coming!" She whined as the knocking persisted. She opened the door and was surprised at who she saw

"Rachel?" She said rubbing her eyes to be sure she wasn't imaging things "Look whatever crap you're doing now, We're really not - "

"I think I made a mistake Haley" She cut her off "I need to talk to Nathan"

Haley rolled her eyes. Could the girl not take a hint? "Rachel, He doesn't want you. Just let it go"

"I'm not here to talk about me" Rachel scoffed "It's about Sarah.

Haley snapped wide awake at the mention of that woman. She opened the door wider, motioning for Rachel to take a seat on the couch while she went back into Nathan's bedroom to wake him

Nathan groaned as he felt Haley push and shove him, trying to get him to wake up "Go away" he whined burying himself further into his cushion.

"Nathan. Rachel's here" Haley said

"Tell her to fuck off" Nathan groaned "I'm not in the mood to deal with her shit"

"It's about Sarah" Nathan's body stilled. He sat up in bed and turned to look at his girlfriend "What?"

"Rachel came and said that she made a mistake, and when I asked her what was going on she said it was about Sarah. You need to come talk to her Nathan"

Nathan nodded and quickly slipped on a pair of sweat and his grey Ravens training shirt. He walked out to the living room and spied Rachel standing at the fireplace across from the couch, staring at the photo of a baby Maddie on his mantlepiece.

"What do you know about Sarah, Rachel?" Nathan startled her as she jumped and saw Nathan and Haley standing behind her.

She walked over to the couch and sat down, Nathan and Haley following her lead sitting on the single comforter chair sitting across to her right. She watched as Nathan pulled Haley down onto his lap and entwined his hands around her waist, holding her securely. She smiled. He really was in love.

"You said something about Sarah" Haley started

Rachel shook her head, ridding her thoughts from her mind "Look, you're going to be mad when I tell you all of this, but I swear I didn't think it would get this far. I was just hurt, and upset that you picked Haley over me. But I can see that you're in love with her and when I realised what Sarah was really up to-"

"Just tell us the truth Rachel" Nathan said "As much of a bitch as you were while we dated, you never had a problem telling it exactly like it was"

Rachel took a deep breath before starting her story "Sarah approached me when she first came into town. She waited by my car after cheer practice and said she needed my help, and that it involved getting revenge on you. After everything that had happened with Haley, I was hurt. So I said yes" she explained

"Sarah told me that she wanted to gain sole or majority custody over Maddie, and that Maddie would provide her with enough leverage to get what she needed from you. She wanted my help to learn everything she could about Maddie. About Haley. About you brother, and friends. Your entire life really"

"And you agreed?" Nathan growled "You agreed to help her take my daughter away from me!?"

"I was hurt. And I know it's not an excuse but I regret it" Rachel said softly, her eyes glued to the floor.

"What happened to make you regret it Rachel?" Haley asked this time

"She told me she needed money, and that you'd give her how much she needed if it meant getting to have Maddie back in your life. I thought that she'd give Maddie back to you and everything would be fine. But I heard her talking to him a few nights ago, about how she had wanted the baby to be given up for adoption. How Maddie wasn't her daughter and she shouldn't be yours either" Rachel said

"She told him she was going to dump her at an orphanage along the way home and that way her and Nathan would never be connected ever again. He wouldn't come looking after her because he'd be too busy trying to find his daughter. When I realised she could possibly hurt Maddie, I told her I was done and I was leaving. She thought I was joking, that I'm just mad at her or something. She keeps texting me asking when I'm coming back. I think she might finally be realising I was serious"

"Who was she talking to?" Nathan asked

"I only know his first name. Joshua" Rachel replied "He's her boyfriend. And they owe a lot of money to some drug dealer in L.A, and Sarah came back to get you to give her what she needs. You're the only person she knows with enough money to help her out of this situation. At first she thought she could appeal to your emotions for her, but once she heard about Maddie, she figured she could use her instead" Nathan listened to her explanation, too in shock to speak.

"How do we know you're telling the truth" Haley asked, still a bit sceptic of the girl

"I know I've been horrible to you these past few weeks, especially since you and Nathan got together. But I can see that the two of you are meant to be together, and you deserve to have Maddie stay with you. I promise you, I'm telling you the truth. I really do like Maddie, she was so sweet when she used to come visit Nathan here" Rachel smiled

"So what do we do now?" Haley asked as she looked at Nathan, who seemed to be forming his own game plan already

"Do you think you can meet my lawyer later?"

* * *

Nathan knocked on the door of the motel that Sarah was staying at. It wasn't the nicest motel, but it wasn't a shit-pile either. Sarah opened the door and was surprised to see Nathan on the other side. She was expecting Rachel to come crawling back.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her posture immediately becoming more defensive, her eyes glazed over.

"You can stay the hell away from my daughter, and get the fuck out of our lives" Nathan growled shoving a letter into her hands.

Sarah ripped it open and scanned over the letter, her eyes widening as she read "What the hell is this?"

"Court order, Signed by a judge just over an hour ago. It states that Maddie is officially, and legally my daughter. Only mine. Rachel told us everything" Nathan said, his anger rising "You've got a hell of a lot of nerve showing up after four years thinking you could use my daughter as some ploy to bleed me dry of my money"

"I need that money Nathan. I have bad guys looking around for me" She said "You have no idea what it's like for me. Your life was always so perfect!"

"PERFECT!? Are you fucking kidding me!?" Nathan yelled "You knew exactly how fucked up things were with my parents. Not to mention trying to help you get over your drug addiction, then trying to keep you off the drugs long enough to give birth to our daughter. Oh and let's not forget you ABANDONING OUR CHILD!" Nathan kept ranting "I was a dad at sixteen years old! I was looking after a baby while trying to complete high school and gain an athletic scholarship to college! Did you know Maddie was fatally ill in our senior year!? I almost skipped my final exams because the doctors didn't think she would make it past the week. But she pulled through, she's a fighter"

"Nathan -" Sarah tried to interject

"No! You don't know how strong, and brave, and beautiful Maddie is. You weren't there to tuck her in at night, and sing to her, and hold her close when she had bad dreams. You weren't there to watch her grow up. And what's worse is you don't even care, you don't see her as your daughter."

"I wouldn't have made a good mother" Sarah lamely replied.

"Well, now we'll never have to find out will we?" Nathan chuckled bitterly, pointing towards the court order she held in her hands "You will never know my daughter Sarah, and she will never know you. I will make sure of that, believe me"

"What am I supposed to do Nathan?" Sarah cried "I need that money!"

"It's not my problem, nor do I care. Kind of like you with Maddie. Now get the fuck out of here, and don't come back" Nathan growled out before storming off.

 **A/N: OK!** **So, I'm not sure if I resolved that all too fast, but I hope you like it!**

 **As always, please leave a review and let me know what you thought. We're close to the end of this story, maybe ten more chapters max.**

 **Enjoy your weekend!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	20. Happily Ever After

**A/N: Hey lovelies! Sorry this update (like most) took a while to post, I really am trying to balance writing and school and work but it's getting more and more difficult. I'll try not to promise to have chapters up next week when I know that it probably won't be until next month! There's quite a time jump but I hope you like it!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **20\. Happily Ever After**

*November 20th, 2014

"Haley! Come on we're going to be late!" Nathan yelled as he secured the cuff link on his left wrist.

"Hold on Baby" Haley said from the bedroom as Nathan stood in the kitchen

"Yeah, hold on Daddy!" Nathan chuckled as he heard Maddie's voice.

Nathan smiled. He couldn't believe how much his life had changed since he met Haley. Ever since that day when Sarah had left Tree Hill, they had been stronger than ever. Nathan had finally been able to keep Maddie without ever having any risk of anyone taking her away from him again. He and Haley had moved in to Nathan's dorm the next semester, and had moved into their own apartment half an hour from school almost two years ago, which allowed them to spend a lot more time with Maddie since they didn't have any time restrictions on how long Maddie could stay with them like they did in the dorms.

Nathan's heart burst at the thought of Maddie. His little girl had grown up so much. Now seven years old, Maddie had just started school and - to no surprise of her father - had made many friends and to Nathan's dismay, her best friend was a boy - Andy. Haley loved to tease him about how Maddie was going to grow up and fall in love with him. Nathan's reply was simply to go and get his gun licence.

Nathan heard footsteps and looked up from his spot on the floor to see Maddie running out of the bedroom, her just-braided hair flailing about behind her.

"Did you see what mama did with my hair!?" Maddie said running into her Dad's arms.

Nathan's heart swelled at Maddie's name for Haley. He still remembered the exact moment he first heard his daughter call Haley her mother almost two years ago

...

 _"Daddy, no!" Five year old Maddie giggled as she ran around the backyard of Nathan and Haley's backyard. Nathan and Haley were both chasing after her, water balloons dispersed all around them. Nathan grabbed Maddie's waist, and scooped her up in his arms tickling her relentlessly._

 _"No!" Maddie laughed as she squirmed in her father's arms from her position over his shoulder._

 _Maddie could see Haley creeping up behind the two of them, a water balloon in her hand and watched as Haley pegged the rubber sphere hitting Nathan in the back of his head. Nathan stopped for a moment, standing still as he felt the liquid drip down his neck and back._

 _"Oops" Haley smirked "I guess that was one of the milk ones"_

 _Nathan turned around to face her, Maddie still laying over his shoulder. "I thought we agreed no milk" Nathan said_

 _Haley shrugged "I may have let Maddie fill some balloons"_

 _Nathan jostled Maddie in his arms, as she let out a small laugh. Nathan chuckled and continued to tickle his daughter._

 _"Ahh! No stop!" Maddie said as she continued to laugh, while still trying to catch her breath "Stop! Mama help!"_

 _Nathan and Haley both froze as they heard Maddie's words. Nathan let Maddie slide off his shoulder and down to the ground, his hand holding her as she travelled down but his eyes remained on Haley's equally shocked ones. Maddie realised what she had said and quickly ran into the house._

 _Nathan watched his daughter running into the house, and went to follow her, but Haley put her hand up to stop him before he could._

 _"Let me" she said before following Maddie into the house._

 _"I'm sorry" Maddie said as Haley walked into Maddie's room "I didn't mean to"_

 _"Hey, it's okay" Haley said sitting next to Maddie wrapping her arms around her "I'm not angry. Just surprised. Do you regret saying it honey?"_

 _Maddie shook her head as she curled into haley's arms resting her head on his chest "You're my mama, I always want you to be. And i want to be your daughter"_

 _Haley smiled down at Maddie "Well if it helps, sometimes I like to tell people you're my daughter"_

 _"So, I can call you mama?" Maddie asked shyly_

 _Haley nodded "Yeah, if it's okay with your dad"_

 _"It's fine with her dad" Haley looked up and saw Nathan standing in the doorway, his eyes trying to hold in tears. He walked in and sat down next to Maddie on the other side of her bed, and gave Haley a kiss_

 _"I love you" Haley smiled_

 _"I love you too"_

...

"Daddy?" Maddie's words broke Nathan out of his memories. He looked down at his daughter, who was standing with an eyebrow raised and her hands pointing up to the braid in her hair.

"I see bug, it looks very pretty" Nathan smiled as he bent down and kissed his daughter's cheek, lifting her up to sit on his shoulders. Even at seven years old, Maddie still liked to sit on her father's shoulder like she was three years old. Nathan didn't mind though, he would keep Maddie as his little girl for as long as he possible could.

"Ok, we're all ready to go!" Haley said as she rushed out of the bedroom towards the front door

"About time" Nathan mumbled, as Haley turned and glared at him.

* * *

*November 21st, 2014*

Haley laughed "Brooke we're only a few hours distance from each other by plane or car. It's not that far"

"It's not walking distance though" Peyton countered

"I'm just going to miss everyone" Brooke sighed

Haley wrapped one arm around Brooke "I know, we all will"

Brooke had been offered a partnership with Macy's and Victoria's Secret in launching her line, Clothes over Bros, and Lucas had recently been given the opportunity to publish his novel, An Unkindness of Ravens. The two would be moving to New York next week where Brooke's company would be based and Lucas decided to come with her since he could write anywhere and the publishing company agreed to have one of their editors travel out to have meetings with him and vice versa.

Peyton and Jake had decided to open a recording label together, Red Bedroom Records, and would be moving to Boston to set up their business there. They had bought a studio for the office and recording area, with an apartment above it for them to live in. Peyton's Dad along with Jake's parents had both pitched in and helped the young couple in buying the office and apartment.

Haley and Nathan, however, were still undecided. Nathan would be heading to either Los Angeles or Charlotte, depending on which team picked him for the drafts. Negotiations were still being made but it was simply a mater of which pick he would be for which team. He and Haley had decided that once they found out, they would discuss their future and whether Haley would move with Nathan and Maddie, or whether she would be doing her own thing.

"So, have you told her yet?" Jake said as he and Nathan were ordering drinks at the bar.

Nathan shook his head "I was going to before we came here, but we didn't have the time"

"You've got to tell her soon Nate"

"I know" Nathan sighed "What if she doesn't want to move though? We've been living together for a little over two years, and I want us to be together, but maybe she has her own plans"

"Nathan, she loves you. And even if she wants to go somewhere else, or travel or something like that, she will still do everything in her power to make your relationship work"

"I know" Nathan spoke softly "Do you think I'm crazy for wanting to do this?"

"No" Jake chuckled "I think you're in love. And if anyone can do this, you and Haley can"

"Thanks" Nathan smiled

"Anytime" Jake responded patting Nathan's shoulder "Just don't hurt my best friend, or I'm coming for you" he smirked as they picked up their drinks and headed back to their booth"

* * *

*November 22nd, 2014*

Nathan groaned as he heard his phone ring on the bedside table. Haley was laying with her head on his chest with her arms wrapped around his waist just slightly stirring, and Nathan very slowly reached his arm around, grabbing his phone and quickly answering when he saw the contact name.

"What the hell Clay?" Nathan groaned "It's early"

"Late night?" Clay chuckled mischievously "Don't you and Haley ever quit?"

"You realise you're talking about your sister-in-law right?" Nathan chuckled as Clay groaned this time "What was the point of this call clay?"

"What? I can't call up my best friend and favourite client for a chat?" Clay quipped

"The fact that you consider a 23 year old your best friend is pathetic" Nathan said

"I'm only two years older, it's fine" Clay replied dismissively

"Clay, the point of this conversation?" Nathan whined "I'd like to sleep"

"Fine go back to sleep" Clay started "I'll just let you find out who you're the fourth pick for all on your own tomorrow at the draft"

Nathan shot up in bed, Haley startled awake as her head fell off his chest.

"Who?" Nathan asked excitedly

"The Lakers" Clay smiled over the phone

"Seriously?" Nathan smiled "Clay that's awesome! Thank you"

"So you're glad I called you at 2am?" Clay laughed

"Definitely. But now I'm going to bed" He replied

"Congratulations Buddy" Clay said

"Thanks man" Nathan said before hanging up.

Haley looked at Nathan, her face slightly annoyed "You want to tell me what was so important that you threw me off your chest in my sleep?"

"Sorry" Nathan smiled sheepishly "But it's good news"

"What is it?" Haley said sitting up in the bed facing him

"I'm the fourth pick for the LA Lakers" Nathan grinned

"Seriously? That's amazing baby!" Haley cheered lunging into Nathan's arms and kissing him senseless

Nathan grinned as they fell back in each other's arms, pulling away from their kiss "I guess this means I'm moving to LA"

" _We're_ moving to LA" Haley clarified

"Really?" Nathan smiled shyly "You're sure?"

"Absolutely. This is our family Nathan, I love you and I love Maddie, and I love our family so much. I want this with you"

"I love you too" Nathan said kissing her again "Thank you"

"For what?"

"You've just, you've made our family so...complete. I can't imagine my life without you in it. ever"

"Well you won't ever have to, because I'm never leaving" Haley replied

Nathan simply smiled and leaned down to kiss Haley again.

 **A/N: Chapter 20! We're almost at the end, I'm probably going to do up to 25 chapters max. I hope you liked this, please review and let me know what you thought!**

 **Have a good week.**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	21. The Six Year Surprise

**A/N: Hey Everyone! So I've decided that I'm going to have time jumps in all the next chapters to wrap up this story.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **21\. The Six Year Surprise.**

*January 8th, 2016*

"Hales?" Nathan called as he walked through their LA house. He had just finished his training with the Lakers, and was so happy to be home with his girls after his exhausting day.

He and Haley had created a pretty amazing life for themselves. Nathan had been with the Lakers for two years now, and his contract would be finished in another year, and Haley had gained a teaching position at the school that Maddie was at. They were still as in love and corny as ever, and would still meet up with Brooke, Lucas, Peyton and Jake every few weeks to catch up.

He frowned as he walked further through the house, and reached Maddie's bedroom. His daughter was now nine years old, and growing more independent each day. She had posters of boys all over her rooms, different singers and bands, and was now wanting to wear makeup. He felt his heart swell as he saw Maddie laying on her bed, drawing in her notebook. He didn't want her to keep growing up.

"Hey Mads" Nathan smiled

Maddie looked up, her long brown hair a mess of waves as she smiled at her father "Hi Daddy"

"Where's your mum?" He asked. Maddie simply shrugged as went back to her drawing book.

"I think she's in her room. She said something about taking a nap?" Nathan smiled in recognition and turned to leave but Maddie spoke again "Daddy, are we still doing the plan this weekend?" Maddie smiled.

Nathan smiled sadly "I'm not sure sweetheart, I think your mum isn't feeling well. You're still keeping it safe for me right

Maddie nodded enthusiastically, jumping up and grabbing the little black box from her bedside table, holding it up triumphantly with a bright smile.

"Good job peanut" Nathan smiled

"I think you should do it anyways Dad, it'll make mama feel better' She said.

Nathan nodded and walked to his and Haley's bedroom. He smiled as he walked past all the photos of their little family on the walls, Maddie's adoption papers and new birth certificate stating Haley as her mother placed proudly in the middle of all the photos.

"Hales?" Nathan spoke softly as he walked into the bedroom, spotting Haley curled up in a ball on the bed. She hadn't been feeling well these past few weeks, and Nathan had been pushing for her to go to the doctor, despite her insistence that it was 'just a bug'.

"Sweetheart" Nathan whispered

"I'm okay" Haley groaned as Nathan sat down on the bed, Haley shifting to lay her head in his lap.

Nathan sighed as he looked at his girlfriend. Her skin was pale, she had been throwing up but she wasn't running a fever. She could barely keep any food down, and was constantly exhausted.

"Hales baby, please. Just go see a doctor ok?" Nathan pleaded, his fingers stroking her hair softly.

"Nathan, I already -"

"Haley please! You're not fine, and I cannot keep watching you like this, ok? You need to go see a doctor and get better. Please" Nathan interjected

"Nathan, I already know what's wrong" Haley whispered.

Nathan's face was full of concern as she sat up and looked at him "Oh god, it's something bad isn't it? Haley, whatever it is, we'll deal with it. We can -"

"I'm pregnant!" Haley blurted out.

Nathan sat frozen as he looked at his girlfriend.

"Nathan? Please say something" Haley whispered, feeling tears prick her eyes. Was he upset about this?

"You're really pregnant?" Nathan asked softly. They were having a baby, he was going to be a father, again.

"I have to confirm with the doctor, but I took a home test" Haley nodded.

Nathan frowned at this information "Why didn't you tell me? I would've been there for you"

Haley smiled "I just didn't want to mention it until I was sure. I'm sorry"

"We're having a baby" He smiled

"Maybe, yes" Haley nodded.

Nathan chuckled again, wrapping his arms around Haley "We're pregnant!"

Haley laughed and kissed him as they fell back on the bed "Nice work daddy" she winked when they pulled apart.

Nathan laughed again before his lips descended on hers once more...

* * *

*January 9th, 2016*

"You nervous?" Nathan said as he sat next to Haley's bed in the doctors office

"A little bit. I'm excited more than anything" She smiled

They had been in Doctor Greene's office for the past half an hour, waiting for the blood work to come back to confirm if Haley was pregnant. Haley lay on the bed, one hand over her stomach as the other held Nathan's hand, his grip squeezing every few minutes in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm really glad you're here with me" Haley whispered

Nathan brought her hand up to his lips and pressed gently "There's no where else I'd rather be"

"Maddie's going to be so excited when we tell her" Haley chuckled "She's been pestering me about a little sister lately"

"Is that what you want? A girl?"

Haley shrugged "Honestly, I don't really mind. I kind of like the idea of a little boy though, he'd grow up to be just like his daddy"

Nathan smiled "I always wanted a son to teach basketball too. I mean I know I can teach a girl too, I did with Maddie, but I can remember my Dad teaching me how to play ball in our backyard. It's one of the few good memories I do have"

Haley smiled softly and moved her hand to stroke his cheek "I'm sorry your parents aren't here for this Nathan"

Nathan simply shrugged, bringing his hand up to rest against Haley's on his cheek "I have you, and Maddie. And out little nugget here" Haley chuckled at the sentiment "I have everything I could ever need"

He leaned up and kissed her, letting things escalate a little further than they should. Nathan's hand was resting on haley's stomach, brushing under her shirt, when the doctor opened the door, causing the two to break apart.

"Hey now, enough of that. It's the reason we're here in the first place" Doctor Greene joked as she walked in

"So, what's the verdict?" Nathan asked anxiously

Doctor Greene smiled "Congratulations, you're four weeks pregnant"

Haley felt tears prick her eyes as Nathan wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead "Told you that would be a good anniversary" Haley laughed at Nathan's comment, realising their estimated conception date was a result of their six year anniversary celebrations.

"I love you so much" Haley spoke softly against his chest

"I love you too Hales, more than words can ever truly express"

* * *

*January 12th, 2016*

"I can't believe you guys are pregnant!" Brooke and Peyton exclaimed as they hugged Haley for the hundredth time since she'd found out "I'm going to be an auntie again" Brooke said.

"And I get to be a big sister" Maddie smiled proudly

Nathan smiled as he made eye contact with Lucas and Jake, the silent question being raised yet again. Nathan nodded subtly and put his hand palm on Maddie's lap, smiling as his little girl placed the box in his hand. Nathan coughed loudly and stood up from his position at the table in their living room, gaining the attention of their entire table.

"Well, I have one more announcement to make" Nathan smiled "Or, rather a question"

Nathan nervously bent down on one knee in front of Haley, taking a breath before smiling up at her

"Hales, we've been through so much in the past six years. And you've never left my side through it all. You're my best friend, my girl, my confidant, the one I tell all my secrets too. You keep me grounded, and safe. And I want you to know this isn't because you're pregnant. It's because of all those other reasons that I've stated, and the thousand others I could list. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you."

Haley could feel tears prick her eyes as Nathan took her left hand in his

"So, Haley Bob James, will you do me the greatest honour of my life, and mar-"

"Yes!" Haley cried. Nathan chuckled as he leaned up and wiped a few tears from her eyes

"You didn't let me finish baby" He spoke softly as everyone around the table chuckled "Marry me?"

Haley nodded vehemently and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss "A thousand times yes" she mumbled against his lips.

Nathan smiled and kissed her again, swooping her up into his arms and spinning her around. Haley giggled as he put her down and placed ring on her hand. Haley was in shock as she saw the three-carat round engagement ring, with a plain white gold band. The same her mother had, the same ring which had been passed down from her grandmother.

"How did you-" Haley couldn't form her sentence

"I may have stopped in Chicago on my way to Tree Hill on that 'business meeting' of mine" Nathan smirked

"You're unbelievable" Haley chuckled as she kissed him again "I love you Nathan Scott"

"I love you too Haley James. Soon to be Scott"

 **A/N: And that's Chapter 21! I hope you guys liked this, I know it's kind of quickly done but I'm going to have another time jump next chapter with flashbacks to Haley's pregnancy at parts, and it will be a longer chapter.**

 **As always, please review and let me know what you think!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


	22. The End Of Our Story

**A/N: I'm sorry this took so long I was so busy! this is the final chapter.**

 **I know it's not exactly the best chapter, but everyone that PM'd me had asked about what happened to Sarah and how Maddie felt about everything so that's what I focused on most here. I hope you like it :)**

 **Note: The words that are in Italics and have the apostrophe on the ( _'Example'_ ) are the person's thoughts.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **22\. The End Of Our Story.**

*August 18th, 2023*

Haley groaned tiredly as she walked through the front door of her house. She felt like she was 30 going on 90, she had never felt so tired in her life.

"Mama!" Haley felt her day brighten a little as she saw Ryan run towards her.

She moved her bags into one hand and scooped the three-year-old up on one arm. Haley smiled as she walked through the hallways with Ryan on her hip, taking in all the family photos on the wall.

At 27 years old, Ryan Nathaniel Scott had been the surprise baby for Haley and Nathan, but never any less loved. He was just like his daddy; exuberant and cheeky, with blue eyes and dark raven hair. And that damn Scott smirk that Haley couldn't hate no matter how hard she tried.

Their second youngest, Lydia Bob Scott, was now four years old and had just started pre-school earlier that year, something she was very excited about. She was more like Haley; she loved to learn, and was more quiet than her siblings. She preferred to sit inside or in the backyard with a book and read to her heart's content rather than playing sports. She had her father's blue eyes but her mother's honey-blonde hair, a perfect combination of the two parent's looks.

James 'Jamie' Lucas Scott was Nathan and Haley's first child together, but the second child for the James-Scott clan. The six-year-old was a very balanced mix of both parents; he liked to read, but had a fierce passion for basketball. He liked his peace and quiet, but when he was to quiet it meant he was up to something. He liked to push the rules and act cheeky like his father, but he showed a great respect for his family and friends like his mother had taught him.

Nathan had grown to be very protective of all his children, but mostly of Maddie. She had reached the age where she was interested in boys, and boys had _definitely_ taken an interest in her. While her body had changed and matured, he confidence was still not completely there - She was always shy around boys that she didn't really know, something Nathan was very thankful for.

"Mama!?" Haley was snapped out of her thoughts as Jamie came running towards her "Have you seen my ball?"

Haley rolled her eyes, pointing outside where his basketball lay on the grass. He had been obsessed with the basketball since his Aunt Brooke had given it to him for his sixth birthday.

Haley nodded, answering that it was outside on the patio table where he had left it last night. She chuckled as the little boy sprinted outside, she only wished he would move that fast for school in the mornings.

…

Haley was now halfway through cooking dinner while helping Lydia with her homework at the kitchen bench when Maddie came home.

Now 15 years old, Maddie had grown up to be the sweetest, most beautiful girl both inside and out. Her dark raven hair had grown to sit at mid-chest level, her blue eyes now encased in a pair of reading glasses (though she tried to avoid using them as much as possible). She was an AP student for most of her classes, and was doing exceptionally well in school, something which she found she had a great passion for. She was hoping to get her teaching degree when she finished school, but she also had a great love for art and wanted to try and combine the two.

"Hey mum" She said plopping down on the bar stool at the breakfast bar Haley was standing at

"Hi sweetheart, how was your day?"

Maddie shrugged, running her fingers through her hair "Same old. Health, AP English, AP Chem, Art, Extension History. Oh! And three tutoring sessions"

"Oh, same old huh?" Haley replied sarcastically

"Just another hectic day in the life of Madeleine Scott" Maddie chuckled back. She stood up from the chair, explaining she had homework and picked up her bag.

"Mads?" Haley yelled out when Maddie was halfway up the stairs "You forgot your son"

Maddie smiled sheepishly as she walked back down the stairs, reaching out her hand to grab the baby doll off her mother. But Haley was quick to pull it out of her grasp.

"You want to explain?"

Maddie sighed and sat back down "They're reinstating the practical component of Family Studies in Health, so we were all partnered up to look after a baby for the next two weeks. I've got Elliot as a partner"

"Elliot huh?" she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.

"Mama!" Maddie groaned and dropped her head on the bench "We're just friends!"

"Tell that to your face" Jamie said running in the room and sitting on the stool next to her "You go bright red every time someone mentions him. And you always blush when he tells you how pretty you look. You have a crush"

"Maddie's got a crush!" Lydia exclaimed in a sing-song tone, wanting to be a part of the conversation.

"Shut up Jamie!"

"You shut up!"

"You're such an annoying little shi-"

"Madeleine Grace Scott! You better rethink the words about to come out of your mouth" Haley scolded

"Me!? Your SIX YEAR OLD son just told me to shut up!"

"You said it first" Jamie mumbled.

Haley closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. _'Don't kill the children. Nathan will be home tomorrow; you can handle them until then'_

"Jamie, you can use the PlayStation until dinner is ready" Haley spoke

Jamie's eyes lit up at the thought and quickly raced off to the living room, his bickering with his sister forgotten about. Maddie quietly stood up from the chair and reached down to grab her bag to head up to her room.

"Not so fast" Haley said. She turned the heat down on the pot of pasta and sat down next to Maddie.

"Now, you want to tell me why you got so defensive about Elliot?" Haley asked.

Maddie was silent for a few minutes, her hands fidgeting nervously in her lap. Haley smiled softly and placed her hand over her daughter's causing and Maddie looked up at her.

"Sweetheart, it's okay to have feelings for him"

"He's my best friend" Maddie whispered "I can't fall for him"

"Why not? I fell in love with my best friend"

Maddie smiled sadly "You and Dad are different. I don't want to repeat history"

Haley frowned "What is that supposed to mean?"

"The whole baby project, and Elliot, and my feelings for him. I just started thinking … What if I'm like her?"

"Like who, sweetie?"

"Sarah" Maddie spoke softly, painfully "I don't want to be the kind of woman who ditches her boyfriend or husband and leaves my child"

"Hey" Haley said pulling the young girl into her arms "You will never be like her, ok? I know you wouldn't do that to your child, not when you know how painful an experience it is. And you can be damn sure your father and I would do everything to help you make the right choices, ok?"

Maddie nodded against her mother's shoulder "I love you mum"

Haley smiled "I love you too baby"

* * *

*August 19th, 2023*

Nathan quietly walked downstairs, rubbing his tired eyes as he entered the kitchen. He sighed as he opened the fridge leaning in to see what was inside.

"Midnight snack, huh?" Nathan jumped and turned around to see his daughter behind him.

"Mads, are you trying to give me a heart attack!?" He exclaimed placing his hand over his racing heart.

"Sorry" She smiled sheepishly.

Nathan frowned when he saw his daughter sitting at the breakfast bar with the 'project baby' laying on the table and eating a gigantic bowl of milk and cereal – her go to comfort meal when she couldn't sleep.

"Everything okay with you?" He asked sitting down at the table.

Maddie was quiet for a few minutes, stirring her cereal around with her spoon.

"Can we talk about my mother?"

Nathan froze wide-eyed. He hadn't expected her to ask him that. Haley had told him about what had happened yesterday while he was away, but he thought that was the end of it.

"We don't have to!" She exclaimed at her father's panicked expression "I know you don't like to talk about it, I'm sorry I shouldn't have –"

Nathan rested his hand gently on top of Maddie's and gave her a small smile "It's ok hun, you just caught me off guard. Why the sudden interest in her?"

Maddie let go of the spoon and bowl and turned so she was facing her father, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her feet on the edge of her seat.

"I guess this whole Health class project got me thinking about her. I just don't get why she left? I know you tried to explain it when I was younger, and we never really talked about it after that. Which was fine, I had Haley and she was my mum and I honestly didn't want to know about Sarah. But I guess lately, I've been wanting to know the full story"

Nathan sighed. He knew this day would come. He had hoped it would be later on in life, but he didn't blame her for being curious about it. She was fifteen years old, of course she wanted to know why Sarah left her.

"Your mum" Nathan stopped, correcting himself "Sarah. She was always selfish. And I'm not saying that to be mean, she was just that kind of person, she didn't really love anyone but herself. She was in a lot of deep shit, drugs, alcohol. No one could get her to quit."

"Do you think she loved you?" Maddie interjected.

"When we were together, she used to tell me she loved me. And at the time I believed her. But when she fell pregnant with you, something changed. It was like everything became clear to me. She never really loved me. She loved having someone that was there for her, that would do what she wanted. She loved the idea of me more than anything else."

Nathan took a breath, trying to calm his rising emotions "When we found out about you, we were both confused. She wanted to abort at first, but I didn't think that was fair to you. We eventually agreed to give you up at first, it wasn't really something I was comfortable with but it was better than you not being born at all"

Nathan could hear Maddie sniffling, trying to hold in her tears. He couldn't look at her though. The moment he did, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep telling her all this. And she needed to know. She deserved to know.

"I made her agree that while she was pregnant, she couldn't do drugs or drink. I didn't want her to harm you. She agreed, and I was stupid enough to just take her at her word. I found out when she was six moths along that she hadn't quit. If anything she started partying even _harder_ than before. I'm just glad that you weren't hurt from her reckless behaviour"

"So how come you didn't give me up?" Maddie asked.

"The moment I saw you, I fell in love with you" Nathan smiled "I promised you and myself that I would never let anything bad happen to you, and I failed you before you were even born. I wanted you to have the best life possible and I honestly thought I could give you that"

"You have Daddy" Nathan smiled even brighter. Maddie rarely called him 'daddy' anymore, it was 'Dad' or 'Old man' when she was feeling cheeky. 'Daddy' was always reserved for those times when the two were at their most vulnerable. When she wanted him to know that no matter what, she was still his little girl.

"So why did she come back? You told me she had agreed to stay away from us"

"She had" Nathan sighed "But, she and her boyfriend got into some deep stuff with some dealer. She needed the money to pay him off. She thought if she got custody of you, that I would do anything to get you back. And I would've have. But luckily your aunt Rachel helped us out with that"

"Oh" Maddie whispered, her voice taking on a rather dejected tone.

"You were hoping she came back for you?" Nathan's question came out more like a statement.

Maddie shrugged "Is it wrong? I know that she did all these horrible things, but I guess I would've liked the chance to have gotten to know her before she died"

Nathan was quiet. He still remembers the day Sarah's mother had called to tell him she had overdosed, a little over two years ago. She had mixed a few too many things together, and everyone at the party was too strung out to help her. By the time the ambulance arrived, they were too late.

"I know sweetheart. But honestly, I never would've let you see her." Nathan spoke softly, gently "Sarah could never get it together. I knew her, she would've been in and out of your life. She wouldn't help you. She would only ever hurt you. No matter how much she might have loved you, she never would've been able to do be your mum. I'm sorry"

Maddie shakes her head "It's okay. Even if she had been someone that was worthy of being a mum, she wouldn't have been mine anyways. Sarah may have been my _mother_ , but Haley will always be my _mum_."

Nathan smiled "I'm real proud of you, you know that? I don't know what I did to deserve you"

Maddie smirked and shrugged "What can I say? You got lucky"

"Actually getting lucky is _how_ I got you"

"Ew! Dad!" Maddie scrunched up her nose.

Nathan chuckled and leaned in to hug his daughter "You okay now?"

Maddie nodded against his shoulder "Yeah, thank you Dad. I know it's hard for you to talk about her, but it means a lot to me that you told me the truth"

"Always"

* * *

*September 20th, 2026*

"Okay, you all set?" Haley asked as she walked around the room.

Maddie smiled "Yes mum, We've _tripled_ checked everything. I'm all good, you guys can go now"

"Okay, but don't hesitate to call us alright sweetheart?" Nathan said as he and Haley headed towards the doorway.

"You guys, it's Duke. You went here, Uncle Lucas, Aunt Brooke, Uncle Jake and Aunt Peyton. You all survived, and with a four-year-old kid at the time. I think I got this"

Nathan smiled at his daughter. She had grown a lot in the past three years. She and Elliot had finally started dating two and a half years ago. And while Nathan hadn't been happy to see his baby girl grow up, he was glad that she was with Elliot. Nathan knew that this boy would protect her and love her just as much as he and Haley did.

And now here they were, at Duke University where the two lovebirds had decided to attend college together. Maddie was getting her teaching degree and her bachelor in Arts, and was hoping to move back to Tree Hill to be an art teacher at the high school when she finished college. Elliot was doing sports management and was hoping to be a sports agent one day, something he too could do from Tree Hill.

Nathan was happy his daughter's life was working out. She may have been dealt a crappy card with her mother, but Haley had made sure that Maddie was loved. And both she and Nathan had done everything to ensure that Maddie got everything she wanted out of life and made sure she worked hard for it too. He was so glad to be able to see his daughter achieving her dreams.

"well, just be prepared" Haley said "College is a lot harder than it seems"

"But it was totally worth it in the end" Nathan said looking at Haley lovingly.

Haley smiled up at her husband "That it was"

 **A/N: I know this wasn't the greatest but honestly, I had this finished in Chapter 20 but I got a lot of PM's asking me to continue. However, I feel that this story was already finished and there wasn't anything else I had left to write. In saying that, I hope you liked the final chapter of "College Is A Lot Harder Than It Seems"!**

 **I'm still writing more Naley stories, I've just started a knew one about a month ago - "What I Knew I Always Wanted" and have just recently completed my story "A Naley Cinderella Story". Check them out if you feel like it!**

 **\- Maddie :)**


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